Procreation for Dummies
by books4evah
Summary: LilyJames. I'd tell you what the story's about, but I don't really know. Because I'm not writing it. The readers are.
1. Chapter 1 books4evah

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Really, nothing. And you'll see why in a second.

AN: Remember The Questionnaire? I finished that story almost two years ago (thank Merlin). Though, you couldn't exactly call it a story—it was a collection of non sequitur surveys. Which is why I was easily able to post chapters sent in by you guys, since there was no connecting story.

So what is the point of this spiel? I know, I know. The point is, I want to try what I did with the Questionnaire, with an actual story. What does that mean? Basically, I provide you with the first chapter, and the outline of the plot, and you write the rest! (if you want, anyways). And I have no qualms with leaving this story as roadkill, so if you want to see more, it's up to you!

So, basic outline: It's 7th year, and Lily and James are Head Boy and Head Girl. Um…yeah. There's no Head dorm. But everything else is up to you guys!

Characters:

Lily and James (those two are pretty obvious)

Peter, Remus, Sirius (James' friends)

Marlene McKinnon, Frank Longbottom (Lily's friends)

Alice (Frank's girlfriend)

Dorcas Meadowes (Alice's friend)

Other rules:

As of right now, I'm going to post the first chapter that's sent to me.

Keep it at T.

Other characters can be introduced, but no Mary Sues!

Do not negate what someone else has already written (eg. if someone writes that Sirius is not on the Quidditch team, do not go and make him a beater!

Include Peter! No cutting him out on purpose!

Chapters can be any length you want.

After that, do whatever you want!

**Procreation for Dummies**

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tappitty-tap tap._

_Tap._

Marlene grunted and pulled the quill from Lily's outstretched hand. "Do us a favor, and never become a drummer," she hissed at her friend.

"Come on," Lily whined back. "I need that for notes. It's my last quill!"

Marlene raised an eyebrow. "Maybe because you chewed your other quills to death—because _you weren't taking notes with them!_"

"I do too take notes with them," Lily protested, before slamming back into her seat, folding her arms over her chest, and tuning out while Professor Flitwick went over the point-me charm for the fourth time that period.

Marlene rolled her eyes, and turned back to her epic picture of a flobberworm eating a space bunny that was defeating a dragon with only the use of it's little bunny tail. This one was totally going above her bed when she got back to the dormitories.

Finally the bell rang, Lily threw her bag over her shoulder, and rushed out after Marlene to lunch, scurrying across the corridor before the masses of short people came and blocked her way (it was lasagna day—she couldn't afford to be late).

So the Head Girl ran out into the hallway, and right into one James Potter.

"Oh," she said. "Hullo, Potter."

"Evans," the boy greeted jovially in return. "Lasagna day, huh?"

Lily nodded curtly, and brushed past him with Marlene. "It isn't creepy that he knows my favorite food, is it?" she muttered to Marlene, pulling her along to the Great Hall.

OOOOO

"Frank, your friends are scaring me," Alice whispered to her boyfriend, watching in horror as Lily stuffed her face with lasagna. "Can't we go sit with Dorcas?"

"Alice…" Frank sighed. "We've sat with Dorcas for the past four days. What's wrong with my friends?"

Alice raised an eyebrow.

Frank sighed. "Fine. No more sitting with Lily and Marlene on lasagna day."

Alice smiled. "Thank you. _So much._ I love you and your friends and all, but _that_ just isn't normal. She's practically _inhaling_ it!"

Frank nodded, as Lily reached for fifths, and decided that maybe today was a good day to sit with Dorcas.

"Traitor," Marlene mumbled.

Lily nodded and put down her fork, leaning back. Of course, she forgot it was a bench she was sitting on, and promptly fell off.

"Ugh…"

"Need help?" Marlene chortled.

"Go away…" Lily complained, trying and failing to prop herself up on her elbows. "I'm too full to get up."

"Here," a deep voice said, and suddenly Lily was on her feet again.

"Snape…" she warned, turning around. "Oh. Black. Hullo."

"Hullo," Sirius waved cheerily. "Hey, McKinnon."

"Black," Marlene returned.

"Did you want anything?" Lily asked, feeling a strange feeling in her stomach—was this the dark haired siren she wanted to pick her up?

"Er…not really," Sirius said, scratching the back of his neck.

Who was she kidding? There was a hot guy paying attention to her. What more could she need?

"But are you really saying that I need a reason to talk to a beautiful girl?" Sirius continued, causing Lily to blush. "If you want me to go, I can…"

"No! It's fine!" Marlene cut in eagerly. "Cute guys are _always_ welcome."

Sirius sent a wink Marlene's way, and then focused back on Lily. "I suppose what I'm trying to say is…maybe you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

Lily gaped.

Marlene sighed. "That's a yes."

OOOOO

AN: Why is Sirius asking out Lily? Why did she say yes? What will happen with Frank and Alice? When will we meet Peter and Remus? Who are they, what are they like? Does James know about Lily and Sirius? Will Lily slowly transform into Garfield? And why is this story named "Procreation for Dummies"?

Well, you will have to wait until the next chapter—but remember, in this little experiment, there is no next chapter until one of you provides it!


	2. Chapter 2 hpswst101

Hey! Second chapter of Procreation for Dummies! I want to thank everyone for reviewing, and especially OliveTreeHugger and gardensigernumbli for expressing an interest in sending me a chapter. However, hpswst101 sent in the second chapter, so all credit goes to him/her today! Cheers to hpswst101!

OOOO

By hpswst101

A/N this chapter is rated T, some inappropriate talk/humor.

Sirius left the Great Hall after talking with Lily and started to make his way down to the Kitchens. Once he reached the fruit bowl that protected and concealed the Kitchen's, he checked around him to make sure that no Hufflepuff was nearby and ticked the pear. The pear giggled and laughed and morphed into a door, after a quick roll of his eyes he opened the door to see the House-elf's bubbling around working on their food and his three best friends in the entire world. James Potter. Remus Lupin. Peter Pettigrew.

"Sirius! How did it go?" James asked as soon as he noticed Sirius.

"It's settled," with a grin he moved a chair back, twisted it around and sat in it. Folding his arms on the backing. "We have a date."

"And you will say nice things about me right," James brow scrunched up in worry. "You'll make me look-good."

"Prongs!" Sirius shouted as he grabbed a butterbeer. "It's cool. Don't worry. Ok?" He nodded his head and Sirius did the old fashion popping the cap off with the side of a table and took a swig.

"Ok. Yeah. Right," James said nervously and took a small sip. "Do you think-"

"JAMES!" Everyone yelled.

"I'm sorry, guys, but this Lily. The woman of my dreams. The woman I want-"

"To always be with," his friend cut in.

"The reason his beds are wet every once in awhile," Sirius smirked. James went red and hid his face with his fist.

"I hate you, Sirius," he mumbled as he looked away from his friends.

"That came from the same guy who always has someone in bed with him, at all hours," Peter stated.

Remus nodded his head and added; "I can't even count how many times I find him with someone in a broom cupboard. Really Sirius?"

"Yeah I know it's amazing Lily said 'yes' but she did," Sirius threw his hands in the air.

A few house-elves zoomed up next to the four 17 year old teenagers and placed some food in front of them. The Marauders started eating.

"Sirius," Peter asked as he stuff his face full of chicken strips. "Where are you going to take Lily?" James stopped eating and stared at his best friend, waiting for him to speak.

Sirius swallowed, "Well I don't know really where to take her other then a bookstore. Any ideas, James?"

James bit the bottom of his lip as he thought about it. "In Hogsmeade there's a park there. She likes going to it when all of her friends are off doing stuff. You can go there. It's pretty private, and I believe she would enjoy it."

"But would she want to go somewhere private? This is a first date, and it's with me," he added his famous winning smile and a wink as if to prove his point.

"Good point," James took in. "A public place, other then a bookstore or the library." Everyone smirked and sent knowing looks to one another. "I would say Three Broomsticks or that little tea shop that's all Valentine like. You know which one right?"

"Yeah and I hate that place," he took a bite of his sandwich. "Every time I go in there I felt like throwing up and the room is constantly getting smaller. No, no, not that place. Don't worry James it'll probably be Three Broomsticks or something."

"With a stop at the bookstore right?" Peter joked. The boys all looked at each other and laughed.

A/N so that's how I see it. If you liked this chapter please feel free to read

my own stories. Thanks!

OOOO

So, thank you hpswst101! Again, there won't be a next chapter until someone sends it in. Tell me in your review if you want to write the next chapter, or if you want me to reserve a chapter for you to write. I won't be here for the next two weeks or so (vacation), so don't expect an immediate update. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3 gardensigernumbli

Hey! I'm back from vacation, so here's chapter 3, by **gardensigernumbli**, so thanks to her/him!

Now, I want to say that I am changing how people send in chapters. I would like it if you ask in a review to write a chapter. First person to ask gets first dibs, and the chapter is reserved for them. However, other people who ask to write a chapter are put on a list to write following chapters, alright? Basically, just check with me before sending in a chapter. I don't want people sending in chapters that I can't use.

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Chapter 3

"I'm going to Hogsmeade with Sirius Black."

"Yes, Lily, you're going to Hogsmeade with Sirius Black." Marlene sighed exasperatedly. "We've gone over this already. It's only a date."

"Yeah, but a date that doesn't make sense!" Lily sat up quickly. She gestured wildly, narrowly missing a stack of textbooks that sat on her nightstand. "Now that I think about it, there's no reason why Black would ask me out!"

"Lily! It's just a date! You're overanalyzing things! Just go have fun with it. What are you going to wear?"

Lily flopped back onto her bed, suitably distracted. "I don't know, the Hogsmeade trip isn't for another week. Is it really that important to know what I'm wearing a week in advance?"

Marlene shrugged from her desk. "Well, it never hurts to be prepared, right?"

"Prepared... You're not suggesting that we- that I-"

"What? Oh, hell no! Just because Black's notorious for that kind of thing, doesn't mean he'd try anything on you. You'd beat him up if he did anything close to that."

"Good." Lily narrowed her eyes at the ceiling. "Because if he does anything less than act like a chivalrous human being, I'm going to kill him. And cut him up. Maybe castrate him. And I'll feed the little bits to penguins. Actually, reverse the order. I'll throw in a flamethrower or two for kicks."

"Lily, you're not making much sense."

"No, you know what doesn't make sense?" Marlene groaned. "I'm going to Hogsmeade with Black. Lily hopped up from her bed and began pacing. "If you think about it, Potter has been asking me out since fourth year. Well, not this year. But then Black just asked me to Hogsmeade. Do you think this is a plot?"

"I highly doubt it," Marlene sighed. "Normally, they're much more obvious when they're planning something. You would have seen them giggling and pointing at you if they were."

"Men don't giggle, they laugh. Or chuckle, or something."

Marlene waved the comment away. "Then they're just not men."

Lily paused in her pacing to glare at Marlene for a moment, then resumed her track around the dormitory. "Anyway, what I was going to say was that it doesn't seem like Potter to just let his best mate ask out the girl he tried to get for three years. Don't you think that's a little weird, at least?"

Marlene slumped in her chair. "Yes, no, sure, why not. If I agree with you, will you calm down? If you're going to be this distressed about it, why'd you say yes in the first place?"

Lily paused in her tracks as the thought hit her. "That's right..." she turned towards Marlene slowly. Marlene blinked at the sudden change, then muttered a quiet "oops" as she realized her mistake. "I didn't say yes at all," Lily continued. "You did. Meaning this is all your fault." She grabbed the nearest object, and advanced on Marlene, brandishing a Charms textbook.

OOOOO

Once again, thanks to **gardensigernumbli** for the chapter!

Chapter 4 has been reserved, and will be posted in a week, but if you want to write chapter 5 or a subsequent chapter, feel free to ask.


	4. Chapter 4 NoReins94

Today's chapter is thanks to **NoReins94**. Thanks! Remember, if you want to write a chapter, just ask me in a review, or PM!

OOOOO

Danielle Quinn sat in a corner booth inside the Hog's Head, twirling a strand of auburn hair around her index finger and staring at the piece of parchment in front of her. She was supposed to be writing a Herbology essay, but instead her mind was wandering to a dangerous, dark haired Gryffindor. He'd caught her eye a few weeks ago after trying to pull a ridiculous prank in the Prefects bathroom, which he wasn't supposed to have access to. So instead of writing about how to save a dying Snargaluff without being attacked by its branches, she was doodling hearts and the face of a notorious prankster.

The bar was deserted. Only a few students were left and many were preparing to leave, bundling up against the cold, winter winds outside. Danielle reached into her bag to pull out another piece of parchment, sighing at her stupidity. She'd never measure up to tall, pretty Lily Evans, Head Girl and best student at Hogwarts, who was sitting with Sirius Black three booths away. Even dressed in the simplest pair of jeans and a muggle turtleneck she was the most beautiful girl in school. No one could deny that.

Danielle couldn't even picture them together, but there they were, just like the rumors had said, laughing and sipping butterbeer to their hearts content. She could hear bits and pieces of their conversation, which seemed to be focused on James Potter, Gryffindor's excellent Quidditch captain and seeker.

"You see, James finds himself struggling in Potions. He could really use your help, if you wouldn't mind tutoring him," Sirius said, taking a long sip of butter beer.

Lily's light laughter floated through the room. "Me, help James with Potions," she guffawed, "Why would anyone in their right mind want to help him with anything? All he'll do is copy assignments. That's not tutoring, that's cheating."

Sirius gave her a sad smile. "Well, I don't think James would be willing to cheat anything with you," he said, silently regretting the explosion that he believed was coming.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily said, her voice rising.

Danielle stood up from her booth to return her butterbeer and answered the question. "I believe it means that high and mighty James Potter has a crush on you," she smirked. Sirius smiled at her, which sent a blush over her ivory skin.

Lily sat in silence. Of course James liked her. It was obvious and very old knowledge. Marlene and Alice were constantly reminding her that irritating boys always liked the one they annoyed. And Potter pushed Lily past her limit most days. And he's never failed to ask her on a date for the past three years. And every time the answer had been the same uninterested "No".

She knew something hadn't been right on this date. All she and Sirius had talked about was James. And Black was actually making him sound like a good guy. All though, that could have been her mind playing tricks on her. Yes, it was most definitely her mind twisting his words.

But then, Sirius hadn't tried anything with her. Not that she wanted him to. It just wasn't his normal style. It had never taken him long to get a girl in the sack. And he hadn't even wanted to sit next to her in the booth. This date had been a stupid set up.

"So, Lily, what do you say?" Sirius asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Bloody hell, Sirius!" she exclaimed, causing the man behind the bar and a young woman who was cleaning tables to look their direction.

"Will you tutor, Potter?" Sirius asked, watching as Danielle walked back to her booth. He had to admit, she had a nice body for a Ravenclaw. And he'd liked the way her icy blue eyes had sparkled when she interrupted his conversation with Lily. They showed a glimmer of mischief. Maybe she'd be worth adding to his list of list conquests.

"No, I won't tutor Potter, that git!" Lily yelled, glaring at Sirius. The problem was she actually wanted to tutor James. In fact, there were some things he could probably tutor her in too. Secretly, she'd wanted to say yes every time he asked her on a date. She'd been single her entire Hogwarts existence. What was so wrong with living a little?

"Actually…" she began, "I'll tutor him, but snogging better be the last thing on his mind." A blush rose to her cheeks the thought of kissing James Potter crossed her mind.

"Great!" Sirius exclaimed. He stood up and pulled a few knuts out of his pocket. "He's waiting in the common room for you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a girl to catch up to," he said, watching as Danielle exited the Hog's Head. He recognized her as the Prefect that had caught him in the Prefect's bathroom and he wanted to thank her for letting him go scot free.

Lily continued sitting in the booth, alone. She stared at her half empty glass of butterbeer. When reality finally sunk in, she began laughing. She'd just agreed to tutor James Potter. This was going to make for an interesting semester finish.


	5. Chapter 5 LoonyLovegoodLuvr

Chapter 5 is thanks to **LoonyLovegoodLuvr**! Thanks!

OOOOO

Lily continued laughing all the way up to Hogwarts, and into the common room. Marlene looked quite alarmed when she saw her.

"Is that a cheering charm? Lily, did Black prank you? Cuz' if he did, let's just say he won't be God's gift to women much longer. In fact, he won't be much of a man at all..."

Lily sobered up. "No, Black didn't prank me." She started laughing again. "I just...agreed to...tutor Potter...in potions!"

At this, she collapsed on an armchair, unable to breathe for laughing.

Marlene took one look at her, and started laughing too. "Hahaha...you...Potter...potions..."

They kept laughing for about ten minutes before Frank walked in and saw them. He doused them in water and they both looked at him angrily, Marlene especially.

"Excuse me, but we were just laughing because Lily agreed to tutor James Potter in potions. If you would excuse us...Bwahahaha!"

Frank gaped at Lily, too shocked to speak. And he started laughing too.

Finally, Lily sat up, a look of horror upon her face. "Oh my gosh, I just agreed to tutor James Potter—the prankster extraordinaire and arrogant git—in potions. I can't believe I did that. I must be going insane. First I agree to a date with Sirius Black, next, I agree to tutor Potter?"

Marlene sighed, "Lily, you are not going insane. You just finally found out you're a girl."

Frank stood up, a look of disgust marring his visage. "That's it, I'm leaving. I really need to make more guy friends."

Marlene grabbed his arm, "Sit back down you doofus. Not like _that_. She just realized what 99% of the female population already knows. The Marauders are HOT."

Frank mimed puking and put his head in his hands. "I am so going to need therapy after this."

Lily looked confused. "Even Peter?"

Marlene shook her head, "According to Witch Weekly, plump is the new slim—but that's not the point. The point is, you are inadvertently surrounding yourself with guys you find hot! Think about it, you're partnered with Benjy Fenwick in half your classes, you're best friends with Frank Longbottom, who for some reason," she retched as she looked at him (ignoring his small "hey!"), "Alice Fairfax finds handsome, you're good friends with Remus Lupin, who is considered the third hottest guy in Hogwarts, you went on a date with Sirius Black, and now you have a crush on James Potter. Lily, you've finally woken up and smelled the roses!"

Lily, who had been hiding at least a small crush on James Potter, quickly buried all positive thoughts of him. "No, you have it all wrong Marlene. I was assigned to Benjy Fenwick, you're friends with Frank Longbottom too, Remus and I are purely friends, YOU said yes to Sirius, and I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON JAMES POTTER!"

James himself walked in, and immediately brightened when he saw them. "Lily-flower! I heard from Sirius that you agreed to study with me. So um, I was having some trouble with Amortentia..." He trailed off when he saw her murderous expression.

"Amortentia?" she said very quietly. "Oh I see. You thought that if we studied Amortentia, I would somehow magically fall in love with you? Well it's not going to happen Potter, because we will NOT BE STUDYING!" Her voice grew louder with every word and on the last word she stormed off angrily.

He looked devastated and asked, "What did I do?"

Marlene sighed. "You mentioned Amortentia. At the moment, she's very againstthe idea of liking a guy, let alone loving one. And since Amortentia causes love, in her befuddled state, she's convinced that you're going to slip her some and make her fall madly in love with you. Plus, denial makes anyone go insane. I mean, look at Sirius!"

James looked confused, "But I only wanted to study with her..."

She patted his head the way a mother would pat a disappointed toddler. "You will, eventually. Just give her some time. She'll come around."

OOOOO

Lily was decidedly not coming around. In fact, she was lying on her bed fuming about a certain messy-haired Gryffindor. In fact, her thought process went something like this: _Stupid Potter. Why does he always have to come up with these elaborate plans to get me to like him? If he deflated his big fat head, I might be able to stand going on a date with him. But nooooo, he had to make me think that Sirius Black, player of Hogwarts, liked me, plain old Lily Evans. Make me think that maybe, just maybe, I had something those perky blonds didn't. Make me think, for just a second, that I was special. Stupid_

_Potter. Stupid Black._

Suddenly she sat up, a plan forming in her mind. _Potter is always professing his love for me. What if I pretended that I was carrying someone's child? He'd be so jealous, it would be hilarious. I could call it... Plan Procreation for Dummies!_


	6. Chapter 6 Purple Painted Toenails

Today's chapter is thanks to **Purple Painted Toenails**!

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**The Plan**

_**Procreation for Dummies: 5 Steps to Carrying Someone's Baby**_

_**By Lily Evans**_

_**Step 1: Figure out who the Daddy is.**_

_**Step 2: Convince formerly mentioned Daddy to help me out.**_

_**Step 3: Keep my 'pregnancy' a secret.**_

_**Step 4: Have Potter 'accidentally' find out.**_

_**Step 5: Be free of Potter for the rest of eternity. Ah, sweet freedom...**_

Lily finished her list off with a flourish and attached it to the back of her head board with a thumb tack she found at the bottom of her trunk. It was pretty basic, really. Five simple steps to a lifetime of Potter-free bliss. Of course, there's room for any necessary modifications.

Now, time to put Step 1 in to play. Find the Daddy. _So, he has to be a 7__th__ year. Or would a Muggle work..? Nah, too many details to come up with. Time for another list. I love making lists..._

_**Requirements for The Daddy:**_

_**1. Not a Slytherin**_

_**2. 7th year.**_

_**3. Not James.**_

_**4. Someone I've actually spoken to.**_

_**5. Great actor.**_

_**6. Not disgusting**_

Lily Evans glanced over her new list and debated the other 7th year boys.

She immediately eliminated Sirius. There was no way she was dealing with him. He'd probably end up getting her pregnant for real, anyway.

Peter Pettigrew might work. Marlene had mentioned that plump was the new slim. Lily shook her head. _No, he'd blab to Potter, plus that's too unrealistic_.

Remus Lupin... Lily smiled to herself. He was smart, sweet, and cute with his sandy blond hair and blue-grey eyes. _Maybe if he wasn't a friend of Potter..._

Frank would definitely help, if only he wasn't currently dating Alice. No matter, they were adorable together and Lily would never do anything to interfere.

Benjy Fenwick. Lily actually liked him back in third and fourth year, and she knew him well enough...

Then there was Tyler Fields. Lily remembered him asking her out at the end of 6th year, but she had to decline due to agreeing to help Alice with Potions... _I wonder if he's still interested..._

Putting her other list with the first, Lily made her way down to the Common Room to talk to Marlene about her plan.

After finding Marlene and explaining her plan, Lily was met with, "You are bloody mental, Lily!" in between fits of laughter and Marlene rolling around on the floor.

"Some best friend you are," Lily grumbled good-naturedly, albeit half put out that she wasn't being worshipped for her brilliance.

"I'm sorry Lils, but why can't you just accept that you fancying one James Potter?" Marlene smirked still giggling.

"I don't fancy him!" Lily exclaimed earning a few eye rolls from some 6th years that had been studying nearby and recognized her outburst as being about James, while some 1st years just looked scared having yet to learn the history of the fellow Heads. "And if you're not going to help me, then I'm sure Frank, or Alice, or even Dorcas would be happy to!" Lily began to walk away.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up!" Marlene called out rolling her eyes as well, "Just because I think you're a future mental patient in denial, does not mean I won't help you. This is going to be hilarious and I want a front row seat to the action."

The next week was filled with work for Lily and the other 7th years. Between that and Head Duties, Procreation for Dummies was the last thing on Lily's mind.

After a Prefects meeting Friday evening, Lily dropped her things off in the Common Room and walked down the Grand Staircase and out the front entrance of Hogwarts.

Lily made her way down the path that led to Hogsmeade. About a hundred yards from the gates that marked where Hogwarts' magical boundaries ended, Lily stopped at a wide, flat rock she had been coming to since the Incident _(Yes, it deserves to be capitalized, thank you)_ at the end of 5th year. She lay down and raised her knees to the sky as she stared at the stars. She didn't know the ones of the Wizarding World, but she recognized a few she learned her last year of primary school before Hogwarts.

Lily smiled as she easily picked out Orion's Belt and then Scorpius. She then found the North Star and stared at it remembering her favorite Muggle fairy tale, Peter Pan. Lily smiled at the memories of her and Petunia pretending to visit Neverland as she slowly closed her eyes. The last thing Lily saw before drifting off to sleep was the North Star shining brighter than anything.

The next morning Lily shifted uncomfortably trying to figure what was wrong with her dorm. Her mattress was hard as rock, it was blindingly bright, and the sound of a gate squeaking open was different from the usual snoring...or singing in some cases.

Lily bolted up right as she realized she never walked back to the castle, "Oh Merlin! I was here all night. I am so screwed." She heard soft chuckling coming from her right and turned sharply to face a boy with dark blue eyes and shaggy, light brown hair.

"Don't worry about it I'm sure you'll be fine. If anyone asks what you're doing up, just say you couldn't sleep and went for a walk. You saw me and I asked you to keep me company."

_Oh my Nicholas Flamel! He's H-O-T hot! Don't I know him from somewhere, though?_ She laughed softly, "Haha, thanks. I will." She smiled slightly, still groggy from sleep, "Have we met before? You look familiar."

"You're a friend of Alice, right? Uh...Lily?" I nodded and he grinned broadly. "I'm Seth Fairfax, Alice's cousin. I graduated two years ago, I think we met during your first meeting as a Prefect. We were both reading the playwright for a _Midsummer's Night Dream_. You actually convinced me to read more of Shakespeare's work."

Plan Procreation for Dummies just took a huge turn.

I think I'm in love.


	7. Chapter 7 hpswst101

Thanks to **hpswst101** for chapter seven!

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Chapter 7: Step 1

Seth smiled at her, his blue eyes twinkling. "Yeah, I remember you now." Lily nodded her head as she tried to keep cool. _I wonder…_ she thought to herself. "Which play is your favorite?"

He thought for a moment, scrunching his eyes in thought, "I think it would have to be," he bounced his head in thought some more, "Probably Much Ado About Nothing." He answered and looked back to her. "I love how he does the story and the whole rivalry between Benedick and Beatrice, and then everyone sets them up and they fall in love. I just love that, and then you fling in Don John, and how he wants to ruin his brother and so he ruins Claudio's wedding with claiming that Hero's virginity has been taken. I just love it."

Lily felt her smile grow wider, "That's one of my favorite's too. I adore that Benedick is willing to do anything to get Beatrice's hand in marriage when just a week ago he was saying how no woman is good enough for him, and he just goes on and on."

"One of my favorite parts of the play is when Benedick is trying to think up a love poem for Beatrice and he struggling to get the words-"

"I was not born under a rhyming planet!" Lily interrupted and felt her heart speed up a bit as he chuckled and nodded his head. The two sat there on the ground laughing and talking about Shakespeare. Lily was quite impressed with how well Seth knew his Shakespeare; he really had been studying up on the man.

"So what are you doing now?" Lily decided to ask after what felt like an hour of laughing and having fun with Shakespeare.

"I'm a herbology teacher," Seth said. "Professor Sprout needs to leave for a few months so I said I would take over the spot. I'll be her assistant for a few days, learning the students and how to teach the class and then she'll leave for a bit."

"So…" Lily summed up, "You'll be staying at Hogwarts for a while then?" He nodded his head.

"Of course my lady," he smiled and gave her a wink. Lily felt some heat rush to her face and she looked down at her shoes.

"EVANS!" She heard a voice shout. "Where are you Evans?"

"Oh Merlin, no," Lily breathed and groaned.

"What?" Seth asked and looked at her in concern. "What's wrong?"

"Hey, Evens!" She had been spotted and by one of the last people she wanted to see today.

"It's Potter," she muttered and hung her head.

"Wow, he is still going after you?" Seth asked. She nodded her head. "He really needs to learn to how to surrender. I wish there could be a way I could help you Lily."

Lily looked up and smirked. "You really want to help?"

"Sure," Seth agreed.

"Ok, follow my lead and I'll fill you in later." With that she motioned him to get up and quickly wrapped her arms around him, Seth quickly did the same. She put her head on his chest, and felt some nice muscles that were hidden underneath the robe. Hmm, he smells great, she thought. I could live with this.

"Hey Evens what are you doing?" James asked as he came into her view. She could see his eyes narrow, and his lip form a grim line, he was mad. She smirked, oh yeah she could live with this.

A/N I do encourage everyone to watch Much Ado About Nothing, great movie and play. Hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger and the chapter.

OOOOO

Holy Merlin fornicating with a goat. Lily's going to have an affair with a _teacher_. What will Dumbledore say? What will Potter do? (Will the answer to that question involve murder?) Who the heck is this Seth guy, and am I right in thinking him shady or not? Will Danielle Quinn from chapter four return? What will happen with Potions tutoring? Will the house elves make lasagna today? How is Frank and Alice's relationship? When will Dorcas make an appearance? And, finally, does Slughorn get any crystallized pineapple?

We shall all have to wait and see for the answers to these burning questions, and if you happen to be the one with the answers then ask me about writing the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8 Spazzeh's a Hufflepuff

Thanks for today's chapter goes to **Spazzeh's a Hufflepuff**!

OOOOO

"What business is it of yours, what I'm doing, James?" Potter's eyes narrowed further and she took a step back away from Seth.

She never calls him James.

"It's none of my business, personally, but as Head Boy, and you, as Head Girl, I would be obligated to tell Professor Dumbledore about your little…excursion."

Lily hissed at him, glaring. "Potter, you wouldn't dare tell him! You've been out of the castle past midnight a hundred times over and I've never said a bloody thing!"

"Well, Lily, maybe it's time I changed my ways." With one last withering look at Seth, he spun around and started toward the castle again, his robes flying behind him.

He never calls her Lily.

OOOOOOO

"Shah," Marlene hissed, narrowing her eyes at Frank.

"You're bloody mental, you know," he replied, shaking his head.

It was a week after the incident with James and Seth (Alice wasn't all too thrilled that Lily fancied her cousin, but…what can you do, right?), and Lily was quite happy with the current state of things. Potter wasn't talking to her. In fact, he'd been sulking about the castle the past week, snapping at younger students who seemed too happy, or couples holding hands in the corridors. Lily giggled, realizing he reminded her of Filch. And, to her great relief, he hadn't told a single professor that he'd caught her and Seth out that night.

Marlene and Frank were discussing this exact thing, actually. "That's not the point! The poor bloke's heartbroken, can't you see? Lily, you have to do something!"

Lily rolled her eyes at her best friend, sighing. "There's nothing for me to do, and you know that. He's just moping because his stupid male pride's been bruised. Poor thing," she added sarcastically, shaking her head.

Marlene threw up her hands. "You're a sadist, that's what you are! You're letting the poor guy suffer, Lily! I'm being serious."

"Someone call me?" Sirius Black sat backwards on the bench beside Lily, his elbows resting on the table. "I could have sworn my name came up somewhere."

Marlene rolled her eyes at his nonchalance. "Oh, get off it, you idiot. You're best friend is in deep, emotional pain, and you act as if you don't care!"

Sirius's eyes hardened. "Who said I didn't care, McKinnon? Maybe I care a bleeding hell of a lot, and maybe, just maybe, it's affecting us, too, because James is our friend?" He jerked his head behind him, to Remus, Peter, and James. They were all sitting in silence, Peter with his quirky movements, Remus with his always-the-quiet-one ways (he was reading a book, honestly! At breakfast!), and James staring at his plate. He didn't move, at all. For the first time, Lily started to feel regret creeping into the pit of her stomach. She didn't know it would impact him so strongly, so negatively. He looked so dull. If there was one thing she knew about the boy, he was never, ever dull.

Lily bit her lip and looked down at her barely-touched plate. She had only seen Seth a few times since that night. Professor Sprout was leaving tomorrow, in fact, and then it would only be Seth teaching.

Seth.

Lily smiled absently. He had absolutely gorgeous eyes. So pretty-pretty blue. Kind of like those pictures in Muggle pamphlets of Greece, maybe, the color of the water? They were just so brilliant. And his hair, oh, Merlin, his hair. It was so dark and soft and, Merlin, she really wanted to see him. But the ever-present problem stood, that he was a substitute professor, and this was quite obviously forbidden, for her to be so enthralled by him. But, oh, he was looking at her, too. She smiled at him and gave a little wave, feeling those nasty little nagging butterflies in her stomach, telling her she like-liked Seth, but those ruddy insects were also telling her she felt oh-so-bad for James.

She felt so bad for him. So bad. Right?

OOOOOOO

James twirled his fork between his fingers, his chin setting uncomfortably in his hand. He sighed and set the fork down. "Why did you guys want to come here again?"

They were in the kitchens, busy house elves moving around them at a pace they'd mastered long ago. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter sat at the small, rugged table away from all the hubbub of the cooking. It smelled like they were making spaghetti, but James knew better. Lasagna. The thought made him want to be sick, and he knew it wasn't because he disliked the food.

Lily. Agh.

"Because, you've become a zombified vegetable, and we decided there must be critical action taken," Remus said matter-of-factly, waving his book about in the air as he leaned back in his chair. "You've been quite out-of-touch lately, James."

"Yes, you have," Peter piped up, biting his lip as he stared nervously at a passing house elf with a platter filled with buttered bread. They were very busy, as this was Lasagna Day, and the Marauders didn't have their usual platter of snacks.

"So, Prongs," Sirius said, sighing. "You know, Lily feels bad."

James rolled his eyes and leaned back until his chair was on two legs. "Yeah, okay. I'm sure she had plenty of time to think how horribly she felt while she was snogging Fairfax after midnight, but I guess it's the thought that counts, right?" James snapped, his chair slamming into the stone floor before he leaned it back again. He sighed again. "Sorry. I'm just… I dunno. I guess I'm just tired of it all. She's never going to give in, so why do I keep torturing myself?"

Remus put his book facedown on the tabletop and looked James squarely in the eyes. "Then don't. It's not like she and Fairfax can really be, because he's a substitute and all. So really, you haven't got much to worry about."

James let his head drop into his hands, groaning. "What if he waits for her? We leave Hogwarts in four months. I mean, really, it's not a hard concept to wrap your mind around."

Sirius clapped his best friend on the shoulder. "James Harry Potter, stop moping! You're better than this! You don't let a girl beat you!"

"She's not just a girl, Padfoot, she's Lily bloody Evans!" James outburst, and his friends all clapped. He frowned. "What?"

"You finally showed some emotion, James!" Remus grinned at him, crossing his arms. "Like I said, you've been completely disconnected from everybody, including us, this past week. We were starting to seriously worry."

James just rolled his eyes and looked off. Finally, after a few minutes, he looked back at his friends, mainly Sirius. "What should I do?"

"You should wait it out." Sirius looked at him seriously. (Haha, ironic, right?) "You know she'll come to you sooner or later, especially since this Seth bloke is obviously too old for her. I'll laugh when Dumbledore, finds out, honestly."

"Don't," James shook his head somberly. "Don't laugh."

OOOOOOO

Severus Snape walked briskly through the corridors of the school's dungeons, his robes billowing behind him as they always had a tendency to do. He'd finished his potions essay earlier (of course he did, he wasn't top of the class for nothing, was he?) and he had intentions of going to Greenhouse Four for some shriveled root of Abelia (Professor Sprout had approved, of course) for a confounding potion he was trying to perfect. You see, it was absolutely brilliant. When brewed properly for fourteen days, and then consumed, it made the drinker completely disoriented and confused until he or she was simply a blubbering blob of nothing. They had a tendency to tell secrets, or things that had been repressed within them that were stressing them out until they were completely devoid of anything to hide. Oh, he had plans for this one.

Snape's internal wonderings had taken him to the Greenhouse he'd come seeking. He made a swishing motion with his wand, silently thinking, "Alohamora," and the Greenhouse doors were unlocked. They swung open with avail as Snape stalked into the mass of huge green mosses and plants and odd magical mixes. He searched for about an hour until he found the little purple plant he'd come to take, and he took proper, gentle care as he snipped off three of its roots (precisely three inches around in circumference and four inches in length) with his pocket scissors (probably not the safest idea.) He stuck the roots into a clear vial he'd had the forethought to bring, stuffing it into his pocket as he spun on his heel to finally leave the Greenhouse.

That's when he heard it.

"Oh, I definitely remember you. How could I not, with those eyes?" The male who was in possession of the voice chuckled, and Snape heard the quiet giggle of a girl most definitely younger than the male. He inched around shelves filled with unknown tentacles of green life, finally coming to a point where the voices were directly on the other side of the shelf. Snape peered through the leaves and vines, suppressing his urge to gasp as his eyes widened in surprise.

It was that Herbology assistant, Seth Fairfax, Snape thought, maybe? But, wait… He'd overheard Lily and Marlene at the lunch tables yesterday. Wasn't Lily seeing him, in private, because he was supposed to be subbing for Professor Sprout while she was in Peru? Why was he with this… (Snape peered more closely through the plants to examine the pair) blonde airhead? Snape remembered seeing her around the castle; she was in Hufflepuff, petite, very blonde, and not-so-very bright.

"Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove. O, no! It is an ever-fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken. It is the star to every wandering bark, whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken," Seth quoted to the girl, smiling his devil smile as he took both of her hands in his. The girl was smiling at him in that way that always made Snape wish to be sick, if only to get out of the company, but right now he had higher purpose. If he could save Lily from heartbreak at the hands of this fool, he would take any corny Shakespeare quotes this buffoon threw at any other girls.

How was he to tell Lily, though? She wouldn't believe him. She'd think he was trying to sabotage her 'relationship' (did she really think of it as such?), or put a bad name to the man who so obviously had enough suavity to seduce more than one girl within a week's time. (Including Lily Evans…blimey, this one was good.)

Reluctantly, Snape realized he had extremely limited options. Only one, in fact.

He had to tell Potter and his bloody friends.

That was his last coherent thought as he marched silently out of the Greenhouse, internally cursing Seth Fairfax to the fieriest pits of Hades as he went.

OOOOO

The lasagna is BACK! Hahaha…er, yeah. So, eagerly awaiting what happens when Snape confronts the marauders!

_**Reminders:**_ Danielle Quinn, the tutoring, plan procreation for dummies, Dorcas Meadowes, and Marlene's fantasmic doodling skills. And lasagna, of course.

Also, chapter 9 has been reserved (Loony Lovegood Luvr), but I can take reservations for chapter 10, or anything after!


	9. Chapter 9 NoReins94

I know it's been awhile since the last chapter. Sorry for the wait, and thank **NoReins94** for the chapter.

OOOOO

The next morning dawned gray and dreary. Rain lightly fell outside the dormitory windows. It didn't look as if the clouds were going to lift any time soon. Lily sat up in bed, running a hand through her tangled hair. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stifled a yawn.

Marlene was already out of bed and dressed in her robes. "Good morning, sleepy head," she said, pulling her long brown hair into a ponytail. "We'll be late for breakfast." She shoved a packet of parchment into her bag and dug a new quill from her trunk.

Lily scrambled out of bed and pulled a skirt and blouse from the armoire beside her bed. She dressed quickly and brushed out her hair, pinning back her bangs. Then she spritzed herself with a small amount of muggle perfume and grabbed her black school bag.

She and Marlene made their way down to the Great Hall. Students were filing in, making small talk and heading towards their house tables. Lily spotted Frank and Alice talking with Dorcas Meadowes. They were such a cute couple, but Alice was very quiet around Frank's friends. The Marauders had already made their way to the table, unable to resist the smell of the fresh cooked bacon that filled the air. Teachers were slowly slipping into their seats.

Remus spotted the girls coming into the hall and waved them over to the empty spots next to him. Black and Potter were impatiently waiting for the morning announcements to begin and end so the morning meal would appear. James caught Lily's eye and quickly looked away.

"Morning, Remus," Lily said, sitting down next to him and placing herself as far away from James as possible.

"Good morn…" he was interrupted by Severus Snape, who had been waiting for Lily to make an appearance.

"Lily," the dark haired boy began, "I need to speak to you."

"Why would you need to talk to Evans, Snape?" James snapped, looking up from the empty table. The tension in the air was easily recognizable. "You think after all of your sorry attempts to apologize in 5th year you would've gotten the point by now."

"Easy, James," Remus said, turning to his friend with a cool, collected gaze.

"I wasn't addressing you, Potter," Snape snapped back, eyes burning with hate as he remembered the jokes the Marauders had played at his expense.

"Lily doesn't want to talk to you, Snape," James said icily. He'd pulled his wand from his pocket and held it in his right hand.

Snape reached into his robes, gripping his own wand. This really wasn't how he wanted to start the morning, but if James wanted to duel he was determined to be the last one standing. "Then I guess the pertinent information I have about our new Herbology substitute, Seth Fairfax, is of little importance to you," he said, turning to leave.

"What about Seth?" Lily questioned, finally getting a word in. She'd noticed him sitting at the staff table, but he hadn't glanced her way.

"Well, I heard the two of you are considering a relationship," Snape began. Potter began to clench and unclench his fist at the announcement, clearly perturbed by the information.

By now most of the nearby students had ended their conversations and were listening into the conversation, which was growing steadily louder. Some of the students were glancing back and forth from Lily to Seth, eagerly awaiting her answer.

"What's it to you if we are?" Lily said, clearly annoyed. She avoided Snape at all costs. His friendship had been dear to her and one word had taken it all away.

"I thought you'd be interested in knowing he's not exactly faithful," Snape sneered.

Lily rolled her eyes, huffing. Why should she believe what Severus was saying?

"Oh please, Snape, you're just jealous that Lily isn't into you," Black said, laughing. James and Severus both shot him a dirty look.

"Besides, I happen to know for a fact that Seth Fairfax isn't interested in anyone else," Lily said.

"Oh, really? Has he recited Shakespeare to you under the night sky?" Snape asked knowingly.

"YOU GIT!" Lily exploded, jumping from her seat. Her face was beet red. She pulled her wand from her robe pocket, preparing to curse Severus.

"Miss Evans, what is the meaning of this?" Seth Fairfax asked, walking towards the group. He had a serious look on his face. "It would serve you well to take your seats before I'm forced to take points from Gryffindor."

Lily looked shocked as she sat down next to Remus and Marlene. She shoved her wand back into her robe pocket. Marlene touched her shoulder and smiled softly.

"And you, Mr. Snape, are in the wrong section of the Great Hall. I believe you should find your seat with the other Slytherins." Snape turned on his heel and stomped off towards the Slytherin table.

"Oh, Lily," he said turning back to the group of Gryffindors, "Would you mind coming to my office after dinner? I'd like to discuss your last Herbology essay," he said, winking at her.

Lily was shocked, but nodded her head in agreement, a blush growing up her cheeks. Seth had just asked to see her alone in his office. And she'd already received her score on her essay. Confused, she turned back to her friends. However, the meeting held her attention for all of breakfast.

OOOOO

Danielle Quinn was making her way to the greenhouses when she spotted the Marauders. They were also making their way to the greenhouses, Lily and Marlene lagging behind a few steps. Rain was still pouring from the sky and they laughed as they made their way down the hill.

This morning Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students had Herbology together in greenhouse three. Danielle hated Herbology. Getting covered in soil and mud before the day had really started made her cranky. The only thing she looked forward to was watching Sirius Black interacting with his friends. And on this horribly dreadful morning she had formulated a plan that could possibly get her a date with him. She smiled inwardly. Never had she been more excited for the class.

Walking into the greenhouse she took in the earthy smells and watched as students collapsed umbrellas and used magic to dry their wet hair. She did the same and placed her school bag and umbrella near the center of the long table that took up most of the greenhouse space.

"Good morning everyone," Seth Fairfax said, coming into the greenhouse. He sported a dark blue raincoat and water droplets fell from his brown hair, which was plastered to his forehead. "I'm taking over for Professor Sprout in her absence," he said, smiling.

Danielle listened as "professor" Fairfax went over his basic ground rules and explained to them what their class would consist of. Professor Sprout had left him specific instructions to follow for each class period in order for the students to successfully complete the school year.

Her mind began to wander to the note in her pocket, which she planned on slipping into Black's hand before he could escape the greenhouse walls. She'd decided to ask him to meet her at the astrology tower that night to talk. She hoped they'd do more than that, but she dared to wish for more.

"Now, since it is already a wet day, I've decided to take you out to the lake in order to take a look at some of the water plants Professor Sprout was unable to touch on before she left," Fairfax said.

Students groaned, protesting the idea, but began pulling on jackets and pulling out umbrellas. The class started towards the lake, slowly making their way across the grounds. The rain had worsened since they'd entered the greenhouse fifteen minutes before.

Danielle watched as James helped Lily up a hill. The rain had made everything slip and many of the students were slipping or falling as they tried to make their way up the incline. Remus and Marlene stood at the top, laughing as both Potter and Evans slid down a short ways.

"Hey!" Sirius Black yelled from behind her. Danielle was completely startled. She jumped, turning around and sliding straight into him. They both tumbled down the hill, mud and grass covering their robes.

"A bit clumsy are we?" Sirius laughed, grey eyes sparkling.

Danielle reached out and pulled a long piece of grass from his face. He smiled brightly, grabbed her hand and, though it was covered in mud, planted a soft kiss on her skin.

"Are you always such a Casanova?" Danielle responded, a blush creeping to her cheeks. She then grabbed the note, which was now soggy from the slide down the hill, and placed it in his hand, whirling around quickly to catch up with the other students.

Sirius stood at the bottom of the hill and unfolded the note. As he read it he began to laugh. He was going to have himself a date with a rather spunky ginger and for once he didn't have one particular activity on his mind.

OOOOO

Okay, so I think you know the drill. Ask me if you want to reserve a later chapter. Chapter 10 is reserved for aiden.c.

Reminders: the tutoring, plan procreation for dummies, PETER, Dorcas Meadowes, Marlene's fantasmic doodling skills, and lasagna.


	10. Chapter 10 aidenc

**aiden.c** provided today's chapter. Thanks!

OOOOO

It was far from a common occurrence for Lily Evans to be willingly standing beside James Potter at any given time. Yet beside the raven-haired Gryffindor was where she found herself, listening to the lecture substitute Herbology professor, Seth Fairfax, was giving in the torrential rain by the Black Lake.

There seemed to be many not-so-common occurrences happening around her, she observed. Sirius Black, notorious player of Hogwarts, was making eyes at a blushing auburn-haired Ravenclaw, and clutching a soggy piece of parchment as if it was his sole lifeline, Remus Lupin had put away his book to save it from the rain and didn't look completely heartbroken, and Peter Pettigrew was actually taking notes. Now that was strange.

She snuck a glance at her neighbor and noticed not only that his hair was plastered to his head, lying flat for once in his life, but also that he couldn't see anything. Raindrops raced down the lenses of his wire-rimmed glasses, dripping off the edges onto his strong cheekbones and over the masculine features of his face.

Lily tugged at the sleeve of his robes, grabbing his attention. He looked down at her with eyebrows raised in question. "Can you actually see what he's describing, Potter?"

"Honestly?" he asked, and continued at her nod. "Nope, not a thing."

She withdrew her wand from an inner pocket of her robes and aimed it at his spectacles. "Impervius," she whispered and the water disappeared.

"Impressive, Evans. Thanks."

"My pleasure," she replied. "You know, I haven't forgotten about my promise to help you with potions."

"I thought that had been retracted due to my horrid tactlessness." She chuckled.

"I suppose it was, temporarily. But you can see that I've cooled down. I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

"That you are," he agreed with a smirk. Soon, the smirk slid off his face and his eyes darkened slightly. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something, Lily." She was thrown off by his use of her first name, but replied with a nod of consent nonetheless. "I've never agreed with anything Snape's ever said, and I probably never will again, but I think there's some truth to what he said about Fairfax. He's not a good guy, Lily."

"Who are you to say that he isn't?"

"I doubt you've heard about some of the things he did while at school, and even putting those aside, I'm not getting a good vibe from him. Something's off."

"Oh, so now you're an expert at reading auras? Pardon me if I don't place all my trust in that."

"It's not just that," he pleaded. "Look, I was talking to Dorcas and she said that he has a reputation for playing girls. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm more than able to take care of myself." With that, she moved next to Marlene.

"I assume," Marlene began, "that your minor explosion over there means that you don't intend to tutor Potter any time soon?"

"You've assumed correctly."

"I'll tell him after class. Until then, shall we plan ways to sabotage Frank's big date with Alice tomorrow? I'm thinking using something to do with lasagna. There's simply too long between Lasagna Days in the Great Hall."

OOOOO

Peter Pettigrew was on a mission. Not only had James trusted him most explicitly, but he now had a reason to stop by the kitchens for some delish baklava. He really had a craving for the stuff, yet it never seemed to be served at dinner in the Great Hall.

You see, Peter was Greek. He loved his roast pig, his pastitsio, and most importantly, his baklava. Yet, he was only able to feast upon delightful Greek cuisine for the two weeks that his family would stay with his grandparents in Athens. Just the year prior, he decided that two weeks every summer wasn't enough Greek food to hold him for the year, and took it upon himself to teach the house elves of Hogwarts to properly prepare traditional Greek dishes.

Peter was so lost in his thoughts of the baklava that awaited him in the kitchens that he missed the passage that led to the greenhouses. He was walking down the entirely wrong corridor, humming the national anthem of Greece softly to himself, when voices startled him from his daydreams. He deducted that they were coming from the closed door of an empty classroom.

Resting his head against the wood of the door, he listened to the argument transpiring inside.

"I can't believe you, you two-timing jerkface!"

"No, Margaret, it's not what you think-"

"Like hell it isn't! I heard her talking about you, about your little 'relationship'. How do you think that made me feel? You keep stressing that this needs to be kept a secret, but if little miss Perfect Lily Evans can go blabbing to the whole school about your romantic exploits together, why can't I?"

"Because it's different with you, Margaret. Anyway, there is nothing going on between Evans and I."

"No, Seth, don't touch me! I'm in a rage!"

Peter withdrew his ear from the wood, content with the amount of evidence he'd collected. James would be pleased. Satisfied, he embarked on his journey down to the kitchens for some well-deserved baklava.

OOOOO

What will happen next? When does plan procreation for dummies come back into play? Why is Seth messing around with Lily? Will James and Lily stop this on and off mouse and cat relationship? Will Marlene doodle again? And why does Dorcas know that Seth's a player?

Spazzeh's a Hufflepuff has reserved chapter 11, but I can take reservations for chapters after that.


	11. Chapter 11 Spazzeh's a Hufflepuff

Yay! New chapter from **Spazzeh's a Hufflepuff**! Thanks!

OOOOO

_There's a secret, there's a secret, there's a juicy, juicy secret, just waiting to come out!_ Oh, Peter did like this, he liked this a lot. See, he was the one who faded in; Remus was a bookworm, and in general a bit of an introvert, but he still got so much attention because he was perfect Remus, with the grades and the maturity and everything else he could think of. And Sirius, well, he was self explanatory – he ate the attention like Lily on Lasagna Day, chopping it up into little bite-sized pieces and giving his friends only a bit. And sure, James got the girls Sirius left behind, but he didn't really try anything extraordinary to get attention – if Sirius was the seeker, James was the found. It all just came to him.

Now, Peter held no ill-will towards his friends for this – he did, in his own way, get attention. (Usually it came in the form of swirlies in the fourth-floor lavatory or immature jabs at his height and overall unappealing physical attributes, but that is hardly the point).

But the reason Peter liked secrets? They had to listen to him! They had to pay attention to what he said, he had power over him in a way he hadn't often gotten the chance to experience. This was what Peter lived for (well, this and baklava), even if he hadn't this to live for all too often.

He skipped to the kitchen, and, to his surprise, he found his friends there already. But his seat was already filled. By Severus Snape. What was going on here? "Hello," he said, rather slowly, giving a passing house elf a meaningful look. It nodded hastily and scurried off, forgetting its earlier duties and putting the platter of cooked roast beef off to the side, for another house elf to pick up. Peter just pulled up a vacant stool and sat across from Remus, who nodded happily in acknowledgement. "So, what's going on?"

"We're conspiring," Sirius replied gleefully, his onyx eyes sparkling in excitement only a child gets from the rush of a new toy. "You know, the blubbering git? We're going to take him down." Peter frowned, obvious a tad confused, but he nodded after a moment all the same. "We couldn't find you earlier, so we decided you'd, you know, just kind of migrate down here. Snivellus is going to help us."

"I would appreciate it," droned the greasy-haired potions mastermind, "if you didn't call me that." He flipped a strand of said flammable substance out of his face and glowered at Sirius. "I don't have to help you, you know."

"Yes, you do." James leaned forward on the table, his face set in a hard grimace. Peter knew James was probably killing himself inside for asking for Snivellus's help. "You wouldn't be able to stand there and watch Fairfax hurt her anymore than I would, Snape." The two held eye contact for a while; some sort of silent communication passed between them, and after a while, Snape leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"Fine," he drawled, looking away from the Marauders and studying a faded old oil painting on the far wall.

"I saw him, on the way here," Peter piped up after a few minutes' strained brainstorming, fidgeting with his hands. "Well, heard him, more like. He was with some girl – Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, maybe? – and she was telling him she was fed up with Lily blabbing to everyone about their 'relationship' – and why couldn't she tell anyone about theirs? He was a bit, well, bent on assuring her she was _special_." Sirius and James stared at him as if he were absolutely mad for having withheld this valuable information for so much as a few minutes.

"Wormtail!" Sirius groaned, burying his face in his hands as Remus started laughing. "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

Peter was embarrassed, and felt degraded by Sirius's reaction to his delayed news. "I didn't know what to make of it," he said defensively. "I couldn't tell if he was being serious, or if he was just telling her that to make her shut it so Evans didn't hear about it!"

The group sat in a somewhat somber mood for a minute longer. "We must confront him," Remus said after a house elf brought a platter of raspberry and honey baklava.

Peter reached eagerly for the nearest one, taking the crispy, hairbreadth-thin pastry folds and internally groaning at the delicate crunch as they separated in his fingers. Baklava was heaven if ever there was one. He greedily shoved the piece into his mouth, realizing everyone was looking at him rather oddly. "What?" he asked, crumbs of pastry sticking to the sides of his mouth and his cheeks.

James and Sirius laughed at Peter and shook their heads collectively in that simultaneous, twin-like way they'd always had, that Peter had always been jealous of. Remus, however, was hardly as amused. "Peter, slow down. That _cannot_ be healthy." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, looking extremely disapproving. He was such a bloody ninny sometimes.

"Whatever," Peter mumbled, pouting petulantly as the conversation moved, momentarily, onto lighter subjects.

Sirius started tapping his hands on the old wooden table anxiously, and glanced at the enchanted clock on the wall a few feet away. "So, Sirius," James chuckled, obviously amused by something he'd just thought of. "How is, uh, Danielle Quinn?"

A death glare was shot at James; this merely led him to burst into a fit of hilarity, which caused Sirius to blush shamefully. "Shut up, mate," he groaned, kicking him; the kicked missed, however, because James got out of the way – after all, he wasn't a bloody amazing seeker for nothing.

OOOOOOO

Sirius whistled quietly to himself as he hid in shadows and crept around corners as he made his way to the astronomy tower. The little strip of parchment was crinkled and already slightly worn in his pocket, but what would one have expected? He'd been fingering it, rereading it, constantly bothering the thing all day, and it was nearly torn in two now, the ink smudged to illegibility. But Sirius didn't care – he absent-mindedly played with the frayed edges as his footsteps echoed on the staircase leading to the seventh-floor west wing.

Now all that was left was the Astronomy tower – which, by the way, was extremely hard to climb. You went around and around in tight circles to get to the top, but you were so dizzy by the end you barely knew when to stop. Sirius took a deep breath and started a quick ascension.

Stone mixed into stone as he made the spiral trek, and he was nearly out of breath at the top – it was a rather tall tower. And there sat the petite redhead who'd been driving him crazy all day. He blinked a few times, half to rid his mind of the staircase-induced dizzy spell wrecking havoc on his head, and half to get over an entirely different dizziness.

"Hey," he said quietly, his voice coming out in a hoarse whisper. Danielle smiled and didn't directly say anything, just stood and put the book she'd so obviously been using to pass the time as she waited for him on the cold stone floor beside the cold stone wall. Had she been waiting long? Did she think he wouldn't show? Why was he questioning all of this?

"Hi," she said finally after a while. There were open windows at intervals along the tower, of course, and moonlight streamed in through the exposed, uncensored squares. One such square fell directly on Danielle ideally, and Sirius watched, dry-mouthed, as she tucked a strand of her fire-colored hair behind her ear and moved closer, out of the moonlight. "I'm glad you came."

"Me, too," Sirius said, fighting for some of his largely-acclaimed blasé attitude, his trademark indifference, his appeal in the form of carelessness that people loved – but it seemed to have disappeared. He didn't usually sneak out at night for a girl – the girl would sneak out for him. He was giddy with excitement he was so unaccustomed to feeling – was this how James felt, he wondered, about Lily? But this was rather insane – mad, really. Sirius wasn't in love with Danielle Quinn (he barely knew the girl) like James was with Lily – but she was different, he could tell, and potential for something – he didn't particularly know what – spat at him like a venomous snake waiting to uncoil and strike when she was around. Unfamiliar, enticing, different, intriguing, and all-mentally-consuming were words that seemed to redundantly echo in his mind, bouncing off of walls as if falling on deaf ears, when she was around, or when her name was mentioned. (As if he didn't already know.)

This girl was making his crazy. _Absolutely-barking-mad_.

Sirius Black did _not_ go _mad_ over a girl.

"So, uh," Danielle started to say, but dropped off to laugh somewhat nervously. This tipped Sirius off-track a bit, because the mental image he'd had of this girl so far had been ideal fearlessness – something that would, in all circumstances and situations, _beat_ him. But maybe she was as faltered as he right now? He'd give almost anything to know. What was happening to him? "I wanted to ask you-"

"Oh, stop it!" A hauntingly familiar voice hissed, and Sirius had to force back a groan. Oh, couldn't this have happened any other night? Couldn't they have interrupted _any other night_, when he wasn't alone, in the Astronomy tower, with Danielle-_freaking_-Quinn? Couldn't his brotherly loyalties to James wait until daybreak, when he didn't have a certain intriguing, eager redhead in front of him? Couldn't Lily go gallivanting about the castle with Fairfax in other areas, _anywhere but there?_

But Sirius knew that, for now, his thicker-than-thieves bond with James would just have to come before Danielle Quinn, however reluctant he was to bring that about. He silently shushed Danielle, who seemed entirely taken aback as he grabbed her hand and crouched down, going down a feet of stairs so as to hear better. "Seth, I'm not going up there! It's so creepy at night when there's not a teacher around!" Lily's light voice echoed through the stairwell of the tower, bouncing off of the walls and reverberating tauntingly in his ears.

"I'm a sub, isn't that close enough?" Seth purred to her; Sirius had to fight the impulse to gag. What was he, a bloody cat? Sirius chuckled darkly. He was, in a sense, a dog, after all – dogs did not like cats, oh no, no, no.

Lily giggled, causing Sirius to scowl again. "Sirius? What's wrong? It's just Evans and Fairfax," Danielle said quietly, coming up behind him and putting her hand on his shoulder. It tingled and Sirius was distracted from his mission of eavesdropping for a moment. He glanced behind her and shot a half-hearted grin.

"It's my duty as his best friend." Danielle nodded – he didn't have to tell her what he was referring to. Lily and James were widely known as the two volatile lovebirds who just didn't _get_ it, you know? Sirius had been working his butt off to get the two together, but they were both too stubborn and too prideful to work through whatever little spats they'd accumulated and fermented over for their entire Hogwarts careers. "Mind joining me on a little mission?"

Danielle looked off, through the open-spaced window, and bit her lip. When she turned back to him, her green eyes were sparkling and she had a smile on her face. "Why not?"

OOOOO

Oh, Merlin. I don't feel like saying anything. I'm too annoyed. I mean, I had the TV on while editing this, and that stupid pillow pet commercial came on—the one that seems to go on forever. Bleh. So, you know the drill. No one's reserved chapter 12. Don't forget everything that's happened, yeah, yeah, yeah... It's a pillow! It's a pet!

Kill me.


	12. Chapter 12 Snickerdoodle Black

Thanks to **Snickerdoodle Black** for Chapter 12!

OOOOO

Letting Sirius drag her by the hand, Danielle followed the noise of Seth and Lily talking.

"Ok, Seth, the whole story is, Potter is really starting to annoy me. I need a guy—like you—to pretend to be the father of the baby I'll pretend to have. I hope it'll get rid of James bloody annoying Potter for good."

"Ah, I see..." said Seth thoughtfully. "And you chose me because...?"

"You're an adult, pretty attractive, likely enough..."

"Okay. How long do we keep this up?"

"Until I graduate in four months."

"Ok."

Then it was silent. Sirius and Danielle craned their necks to see what was going on. The fake couple was just standing there silently. Then:

"But, you know, I do..." Lily cleared her throat nervously. "Kind of fancy you... a little." Danielle gasped as silently as possible. Sirius just kept watching.

Lily's cheeks turned darker in the cold moonlight.

Seth looked away. "Lily... sorry, but, I'm already with someone."

"Oh..." Lily looked down, and her eyes weren't tearing up like they do in romance novels, she just looked down, disappointed.

"But I'll still help you carry out this pregnancy plan of yours," Seth assured Lily hurriedly.

She looked back up and nodded. "Great. Shall we meet again tomorrow?"

"Oh, sorry, I promised to meet my girlfriend here tomorrow."

"Oh ok." But Lily didn't look sad anymore, she just stayed neutral. Then she checked her watch. "I have to go," she announced, turning and leaving Sirius and Danielle pressed against the wall so as not to be seen.

Sirius and Danielle then went back and Sirius asked awkwardly. "So... do you want to meet here again tomorrow?"

"Sure." Danielle replied, her eyes glittering with excitement again.

OOOOO

Dang! Plan Procreation for Dummies RETURNS! Boo-yah! Chapter 13 unreserved.


	13. Chapter 13 books4evah

It's been awhile, huh? No one's volunteered, so I figured I might as well contribute a chapter. I don't want to be the one writing the rest of this story (and I probably wouldn't write the rest of this story), so if you have any inkling of what might happen next, please send in a chapter. All writing styles, proficiencies, and experiences are welcome. Just take 5 minutes and type up a little blurb, a few lines, if that's all you want to. (If you want to send in a book of a chapter, I'm cool with that too).

Yeah. So. That's my rant. Onwards!

OOOOO

"Sirius, you do realize that your fly is zipped?" Frank said with utmost gravity as Sirius collapsed on to the couch, completely disregarding the fact that the teenager in question was half on top of his girlfriend, and completely on top of Marlene. But who cares about Marlene anyway?

"Thanks," Marlene grunted, shoving Black's arse off her face, and giving him a swift kick to the crotch.

Which he didn't even notice.

"What's wrong with him?" the sweet and innocent Alice soon-to-be-Longbottom asked her boyfriend, clinging onto his arm with a wide-eyed look of panic.

Dorcas Meadowes frowned. "Can we return to the fact that Frank noticed his fly was unzipped? Why are we not asking about this?"

Frank didn't even have the decency to blush. "He was out. In the Astronomy tower. Why would his fly still be zipped?"

Marlene nodded. "Mine never stays zipped."

With a look of disgust, Dorcas turned to Alice, certain she would understand Dorcas' appeal.

Alice shrugged at Dorcas, as if what her boyfriend and his friend were conversing of was just a simple discourse on the weather.

There was no way Dorcas was hanging out with Alice's future husband's friends anymore.

"Thank Merlin there's no lasagna," she muttered.

"Lasagna? Where?" Marlene perked. "Oh, Lily'll be so upset when she finds out she missed out on lasagna."

"Lily?" Sirius sat up, banging his head on the table, causing his hands to fly from his injured testicles to his bruised brain.

"Where is she, anyway?" Frank asked, looking at Marlene, who blinked. ("Why are you looking at me? I definitely didn't look her up in my trunk as a hostage or anything.")

"Didn't she go up to the Astronomy tower?" Alice said. "I was sure she went up a bit after Sirius."

Dorcas launched into a rampid coughing fit.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. We're awful sinners and have no morals, and Alice should stop dating me even though it's pretty obvious we're going to get married and have seventeen kids. Your disapproval's a bit late, Dorcas. I've already got the ring."

"What?" Alice started.

"Er…nothing. Sirius' turn to talk!"

"Yeah…Lily was in the Astronomy tower with Seth Fairfax," Sirius confirmed nonchalantly.

Though one wouldn't have thought it possible, Dorcas was now coughing even harder.

Frank was fed up.

"Oh, shut _up_, Meadowes!" This drew sufficient attention from the surrounding common room. "I know you're sick of me and my friends, but I'm not leaving—at least not from Alice's life! I love her! We're dating, whether you say so or not!"

"Frank…" Alice whispered nervously, glancing hesitantly around at her classmates shocked and yet eager expressions.

"You don't have to be near me, but there is no way I'm letting her avoid me because you don't like my friends! I'm serious about this, and I'm serious about her! I don't think you realize, but Alice is the love of my life. And one day we'll get married."

There was a collective gasp, and Alice tugged urgently on Frank's sleeve, capturing his attention. "I…what?"

Frank's face softened, and he took Alice's hand. "I love you Alice soon-to-be-Longbottom"—Dorcas coughed, earning a quick glare from Frank—"I hope you know that."

Alice nodded timidly.

"Alice, will you"—here he knelt, amidst squeals—"do me the honor of being my wife?"

OOOOO

Merlin. Frank was such a glory hog.

Sirius pouted.

As he had been doing incessantly for the past day.

Here he had been, about to deliver the news of a lifetime, to be the ultimate snitch to Lily's friends, and no one even pays attention to his announcement that Lily was doing naughty things and having babies with a teacher—even worse, Seth Fairfax.

Except Dorcas. But who really cares? Dorcas only paid attention cause she's a prude.

And now, Sirus was sitting, alone in his dormitory, which was full of impromptu congratulations cards and gifts for the happy couple.

It was a shocker, yes. Sirius wasn't so heartless as to not be able to admit that.

But it was all the school was talking about! The fourth year girls weren't even winking and twirling their hair at him anymore! The outrage!

(Not to say he really wanted to fourth year girls to do that. Well, not in the way that he would admit to in court. He really did like—he didn't know her enough to love—Danielle—but it's good for the ego, you know?)

Rumor was raging rampant about the marriage being next week, or the Longbottoms eloping, or whatever. _Nothing_ about Sirius and any latest conquests.

How insulting.

The teachers were consumed by the news too. Dumbledore had been all to happy to hear the news, as was apparent when he congratulated the pair at breakfast that day, but some of the teachers weren't as sanguine, leading to a bit of controversy.

McGonagall had spent the whole class ranting about how women shouldn't throw their whole lives away after some man, that they should discover who they are before they shackle themselves to a man, and that no one should get married before the age of twenty, if they're even deigning it worthy to get married before thirty, despite Alice's protests that it'd probably be a long engagement and they wouldn't actually tie the knot until after Hogwarts. (Needless to say, this confirmed Sirius' suspicion that McGonagall was an old cat-lady manhater).

Professors Flitwick and Sprout had been a little bit more accepting, if still a little bit hesitant, and had done their best to carry on class throughout the gossiping and crying and hugging. (Chicks, Sirius sighed. So touchy feely).

Professor Slughorn just threw it all to the wind, announcing he was going to host a Slug Club party in honor of the love-birds, as he named them. Waving the half-way prepared sleeping draughts to the side, he declared that the day's class would be devoted to making Amortentia, and that Alice and Frank could test the potions by smelling each other in the final products. He also gave them copious amounts of crystallized pineapple. ("You can never have too much crystallized pineapple").

Of course, the worst was that every time Sirius had tried to catch Danielle's attention, she ignored him and dashed in the opposite direction, as if the prior night hadn't happened.

Dang.

OOOOO

"Hey baby…" Seth Fairfax murmured into his girlfriend's ear, his hands traveling over her body, pinching and groping here and there, until they settled on her arse with a squeeze.

"Oooohh…" she moaned, adding with a guttural tone, "Sorry I'm late."

"You should be," he replied, covering her mouth with his.

"I had to tell some lies to get some spies to leave us alone."

"Oh?" His eyebrows went up, as he lifted his head from her chest. "Who?"

"Black and some whore."

Seth cursed, running a hand through his hair in a manor not unlike James Potter's. Yet, the action, which had been so uncalculated and innocent on Potter was made violent and bitter on Fairfax.

She laughed, and smoothed his ruffled hair. "I took care of them. I told her he was with Marlene McKinnon last night. She won't talk to him, and without her, he's not coming up here. You can be the father of Lily Evans' baby in peace now."

Seth Fairfax picked her up and twirled her around, planting kisses on every part of her body he could.

"Have I told you how much I love you lately?"

She smirked. "I don't know. Maybe you should remind me?"

Seth Fairfax proceeded to ravish her body once again.

Dorcas Meadowes was no virgin.

OOOOO

Ha ha. Dorcas and Seth. Didn't see that one coming? I did. (Possibly because I wrote it—BUT MAYBE NOT).

Anyway, if you want to write a succeeding chapter, just tell me!


	14. Chapter 14 midnightstar4ever

A big response from you guys! Glad to see you all so interested. Just to let you know, if there's ever a big pause in updates again, it's probably because no one's sent in a chapter. If you want to get the story going again, just message me a chapter.

Today's update is thanks to **midnightstar4ever**!

And sorry that it updated so late. I thought I had posted it, but I guess not.

OOOOO

"Ariana!" Sirius hollered across the Great Hall at the Hufflepuff. He was on a mission. Ariana Beeler was a petite girl in her fifth year. She had beautiful long curly dirty brown hair and Chocolate brown eyes that lit up every time she smiled.

"Hi Sirius," he said as the girl looked back at him. "Oh and it's Aria, you know that." She laughed, she had told him a million times to call her Aria. "What's up?"

"I have to find Danielle." He told her, he was clearly upset. "Dorcas started a fight between the two of us and I want to fix it. Me and Danny were going to go up to the Astronomy tower and keep look out, so I was wondering... Can you go up there and tell me who the girl is that's up there…" He was itching to know who the person with Seth was, but that might have just been the fleas.

"Oh of course." She said with a smile as she picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder before standing up. "Oh and if you see my brothers tell them I will be down in a bit."

"Wait, your brothers are that one tall blond haired boy with the really blue eyes that's the seeker for Hufflepuff and the little brown haired boy with blue eyes that reads a lot that's in Ravenclaw, right?" He asked.

"Yes, Sirius. Gavin is my twin brother and Jasper is my little brother." She laughed before leaving the room.

OoOoOoOoO

"You should help me with my potions Lilyflower." James said from the back of the common room.

"James, stop calling me that, I hate that name." She snapped as she doodled on a spare piece of parchment, it looked cool but it didn't compare to Marlene's bunny drawing that she had drawn during charms, it had even won a prize. "And no."

"Please Lilypad." He asked changing the nickname only slightly.

"No."

"Pleeease."

"No, James. Just give it up already." She was irritated now.

"Never…" She could hear the double meaning in his word.

She went to stand up. It was time to put plan procreation for dummies into action. She smirked to herself. As she got up she purposely swayed a little causing James to jump up in worry.

"Lily, are you okay?" He asked frantically. He really did care for her, and she suddenly seemed to realize that. But she was going to deny that fact.

'Oh, yeah I'm fine I just got up a little to fast." She grinned and then covered her mouth with her hand and closed her eyes.

She assumed that she was good at acting because Potter totally bought it. He didn't have the slightest idea that she was faking the look of extreme pain and discomfort on her face.

"Lily, you are most definitely not okay." He said grabbing onto her arm, he was going to drag her to the hospital wing.

"Potter, It will pass." She hissed at him as she pulled her arm out of his reach. "And I would appreciate you not touching me."

"How do you know it will pass. You could be really sick."

"Who do you care Potter." She asked putting her hands on her hips. She internally smirked.

"Because I just do." He said dismissively.

"Well for your information I know it will pass because its morning sickness." She let her own eyes grow wide as she realized what she had said—but of course it was all just part of the plan.

James had the idea expression on his face. He looked sad, hurt, outraged and looked as if he would kill somebody.

"Lily," His voice cracked. "Please tell me it's a sick joke." He begged her. She thought that she saw a tear in his eye.

"Why would I lie about something like that?" She was neither confirming nor denying what she had just said, she was simply asking him for the answer.

"Lily," he grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away. "Lily, please tell me you aren't pregnant." He begged once more. "You're to young, he doesn't love you." He choked out. "You can't possibly want a child this soon." He was crying, Lily would have called you crazy if she had been told that her plan would make him cry.

"James, let go of me." She whispered as she looked into his eyes. They were so blue that they looked like sapphires. How ironic, sapphires and emeralds…

"Please Lily." He said looking at her…

"I wish I could tell you that." It was the truth, she almost wished she could tell him the truth; it pained her to see him suffer like this. It was so heartbreaking. "And to answer your other question… I don't know what I want anymore."

She ripped her arm from his grasp and ran from the room trying not to cry.

OoOoOoOoO

Aria stood frozen on the astronomy tower. She couldn't believe what she saw before her. Seth and Dorcas doing the nasty for all unsuspecting stargazers to see. How could they expose the precious stars and pure moon to such an impure thing.

But the most over whelming feeling in her body was hurt. He had been what every one had said he was, a player. Who knew how many girls he had up here every night. Dorcas couldn't be the only one…

Aria felt tears fill her eyes. Seth and her had been seeing each other. She had trusted him; she had believed that he was faithful. She had disregarded the age difference because she thought he had loved her.

"Maybe I deserve this for not doing it with him…" She thought to herself, but then mentally scolded herself. That wasn't true at all. She knew plenty of people who had waited. Her mother had always told her to wait until she was married, and she intended to. She wondered if Sirius had known… But he was a nice boy, he wouldn't do that, would he?

She stood there with her eyes closed until she heard their footsteps getting closer. Then suddenly they stopped and she opened her eyes. They were standing right in front of her…

"Hi, Seth…" She said trying to hold back the tears. "I hope you rot in Hell." She said before she let the tears fell freely down her cheeks. She had never been so hurt She turned and ran down the stairs, he was calling out after her, she needed to find Gavin…

A/N: Ohhh, who else might Seth be using… and does Lily actually care for

James? What happens next I WANNA KNOW … I hope yall like it…

OOOOO

Dang! I'm going to lose track of the OCs. Anyway, so there is some total drama going on. Can I just say yay for the return of Marlene's epic space bunny doodle?

Anyway, I'm interested to see how Frank and Alice's new status takes us, how it might intertwine (or if it doesn't) with procreation for dummies. And don't forget that Slughorn's hosting a party for the newly-engageds! (I know that isn't a word). So feel free to use that instead of adding in a Yule ball or something.

Oh! And **Little Emily** is writing chapter 15, but following chapters are free!


	15. Chapter 15 Little Emily

Thanks to **Little Emily** for the chapter!

OOOOO

The hallways were deserted, not one person roamed the corridors of Hogwarts. The old castle was almost creepy and a cold chill overtook Lily. She didn't know why she was taking a walk around the castle when she should be in bed like every other normal human being was. But deep down she knew the reason she couldn't sleep, every time she closed her eyes all she could see was James' face when she told him, when she fed him that lie. His anger, his hopelessness and worst of all his…his tears.

She didn't care, she shook her head; she didn't! But why did she have this wrenching at her heart when she thought of his face. No! This is what she wanted, James would leave her alone now, she knew he would, but why did that seem so unappealing to her.

Maybe…maybe she should just tell him then – NO she couldn't! It would ruin everything! No, she had to stick with the plan. The guilt she was feeling was…it was nothing! Lily Evans felt nothing towards James Potter. She repeated this over and over in her mind, but for some reason she couldn't convince herself.

Lily continued down the corridor, running her fingers through her hair. Her steps were slow and without meaning with no direction until she heard voices. She frowned in confusion whilst peeking her head round the corner.

There sat Sirius Black, looking completely uncomfortable, with a crying girl beside him. Lily squinted at the girl her curly brown hair was a mess her tiny hands covering her face. The small girl looked up and Lily realized it was Ariana Beeler the Hufflepuff fifth year. What could she be crying about?

"I thought – I thought he loved me" she chocked out between tears. Sirius looked away awkwardly. "But no. He was just a bloody cheater…who knows how many girls he has a night!"

Sirius still didn't look at her, but spoke in a low growl "Listen he's an arsehole, just a **** arsehole."

"I thought he cared!"

"Seth isn't worth your tears or your time."

Seth. Seth. Seth. He said Seth. But no – he couldn't mean her Seth. No, no way. But Lily had turned and made her way back the way she came. Seth. No! "Just a bloody cheater", "How many girls he has a night" with each thought Lily moved quicker. "I thought he loved me."

No! Lily shook her. Hogwarts was huge…how many Seth's went to the school?

Loads absolutely loads! So no way was she talking about her Seth. Because Seth cared about her and he would never do that! Never.

She turned yet another corner and found herself on the fifth floor; she vaguely wondered how she got there. But it didn't matter because at the end of the corridor stood Seth.

He turned around and saw her, a smile breaking out on his perfect features "Lily!" he cried walking towards her. Lily suddenly worried about how she looked with no make-up on, her hair in a mess and wearing her pyjamas. He quickly pecked her on the lips. "What are you doing up?" he asked

"I could ask you the same question" she said coldly, instantly thinking of Ariana.

"I just needed to check some of the Abyssinian Shrivelfigs down in the greenhouses" he lied smoothly, and Lily believed him. She felt guilty for even thinking he was unfaithful to her.

"I couldn't sleep, so I'm out on a walk."

"Care if I join you?" he asked

"Not at all" she smiled. But as he grabbed her hand she thought of James Potter, not of his face when she lied to him, but of his smile and his laugh and how he makes her feel.

She shook her head and made herself listen to the story Seth was telling "–then I fell into the black lake!" Lily laughed even though she didn't hear the story and wasn't sure if she was supposed to laugh.

Soon they passed the spot where Ariana and Sirius were but they were gone. Lily looked up at Seth. It wasn't him that she was talking about. It couldn't be. It was practically impossible. Practically.

OOOOO

Spazzeh's a Hufflepuff is writing chapter 16. Tell me if you want to put your name down for a later chapter.


	16. Chapter 16 Spazzeh's a Hufflepuff

Thanks to **Spazzeh's a Hufflepuff** for the chapter!

OOOOO

James Harry Potter lay back on his bed, his hands behind his head, his mind racing as was usual these days. Lily was making things so difficult for him. It's not like he could fall out of love with her just because Seth _freaking_ Fairfax decided to knock her up and then continue to screw around behind her back. James groaned and covered his eyes with his hand. This was tearing him up inside. Lily was _pregnant_. It was completely unbelievable.

Sirius sat on the bed beside him, brooding over _Quidditch Weekly_. He hadn't told him yet. Should he? It wasn't exactly his business, but…it was, at the same time. "Pad?" He said quietly, not taking his eyes off of the ceiling ahead of him. Sirius looked up interestedly. James hadn't spoken all afternoon; he was beginning to worry.

"Yeah, man?" Sirius asked, putting _Quidditch Weekly_ down and sitting on the edge of his bed to face James. His best friend turned his head to looked at him and Sirius noticed how horrible he looked.

"Lily's pregnant."

Sirius' jaw dropped. "Fairfax?" James nodded his silent answer and turned back to stare at his ceiling.

"I'll **** kill him!" Sirius shouted, jumping off of his bed. Sirius could not have James knowing he'd overheard Lily and Seth those nights ago. He would see it as some kind of betrayal, but Sirius just totally thought of it as James' own good. If he knew Lily was lying about this, he would hate her, and Sirius knew James would hate himself for hating the girl he loved. He couldn't let his best mate go through that, now could he?

Sirius' outburst startled James, who jumped slightly. He sighed and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. "We can't kill him, Pad. We don't even know for sure it's his. I guess I just assumed." James' elbows rested on his knees; he hung his head. Sirius noticed his friend's obvious despair and sighed, sitting back on his bed across from James.

"How are you hanging with all of this?" Sirius asked quietly, watching James as his head lifted slightly. No reply came for a few silent minutes.

"I feel like everything inside me just got cut out and stepped on, and shoved back in. So now all my insides are mush and puree," James muttered wretchedly, rubbing his hands over his face as he took in a deep breath.

"It can't be anyone but Fairfax's," Sirius said reasonably, gauging James' reaction.

"I know. Lily doesn't exactly sleep around." James looked off and started nervously flattening his hair, his nervous idiosyncrasy. Sirius caught it and shook his head.

"We'll think of something, man. Fairfax isn't going to get away with this. Not with Lily," Sirius added emphatically. James looked up and caught his best friend's gaze. There was nothing but determination and well-contained rage there. And then, amusement. "We may need to enlist Snivellus again."

OOOOOOO

Lily sat with Marlene in History of Magic. They were taking turns doodling on a scratch piece of parchment. So far, their wonderfully creative minds had procured yet another space bunny (Marlene seemed to have a special liking for those) and multiple versions of a mutilated Professor Binns. (One of which was a genie in a lamp…being a ghost was so horribly boring, didn't it seem?) They were about to start on a monster sweet potato when Alice Soon-to-be-Longbottom tapped Marlene on the shoulder.

"Are you guys going to Slughorn's party tonight?" she asked with a grin, fingering the ring on her left hand. Lily envied her. She could trust Frank to be faithful; Lily wasn't so positive about Seth right now. Frankly, she'd been avoiding him since the other night when she'd heard Sirius and Ariana from Hufflepuff talking. That night when they'd gone walking, she'd just felt so awkward. The only things she could think about were James _crying_ over her, and Seth and Ariana snogging. It was not a fun night.

Besides, she couldn't even go to Slughorn's party with Seth. For one, he was a teacher. And two, who knew how many girls he'd shagged? They could get jealous and try to rip Lily's hair out one by one.

Lily's beautiful, beautiful red hair. She pouted at the thought of it being gone as she twirled a strand around her finger. "Of course we're going! We wouldn't miss it for anything, it's yours and Frank's engagement party!" Lily exclaimed to Alice. She always did like Alice. That she and Frank were finally _that_ committed to each other made Lily feel a rush of hope for their generation's love lives.

Dorcas Meadowes kept giving Lily a blatant glare, which she took to mean she'd heard about the Plan. James had told people so quickly that she was pregnant? Or was it Seth? A thought suddenly occurred to her. Was _Seth_… shagging…_Dorcas_? That thought was so absolutely ludicrous that Lily dispelled it as quickly as it came.

Lily could not keep assuming that Seth was running around with every girl in Hogwarts behind her back.

"That's so great!" Alice cried, but quickly quieted when Professor Binns gave her a piercing glare. "I'll talk to you guys later," Alice said with a giggle as the bell rang.

Lily's next class was N.E.W.T. level Arithmancy. A class which she happened to have with James. She sighed at the thought of seeing him, and remembered his tears when she'd told him she was 'pregnant.' Guilt completely overwhelmed her. If there was one thing she really knew about James Potter, he was almost negligent with emotions. He was cool, laid back. He didn't just burst into tears at the drop of a hat. This is what bothered Lily the most. Had she seriously underestimated his feelings for her? She'd always thought it was simply a little schoolboy crush that would eventually fade, but…was it? Was it more? The mere thought of this made the pit of Lily's stomach feel warm and fluid; she squashed the annoying sensation (however pleasant it was) and packed her things away to go to Arithmancy.

The classroom was empty when she arrived, besides for the professor, Professor Arthio. Arthio was an aging, but not old, witch with salt-and-pepper black hair and bright blue eyes. Alas, She didn't joke very often. "Good afternoon, Miss Evans," she said with a tight smile, going back to grading their essays from last week about the Pythagorean Theorem and its effects on the Winguardium Leviosa charm. Lily just rolled her eyes good-naturedly and sat in the back of the class. Not that there were many people in N.E.W.T. level Arithmancy, but still.

James was, as per usual, the next pupil to enter the class room. Lily felt her heart beat speed up when she saw him glance at her, grimace, and look away. She internally sighed. This didn't feel right. She realized she'd never actually hated him; she just thoroughly enjoyed bickering with him.

Lily stood form her seat and sat in the one in front of James, sitting sideways so she could talk to James before class started. "James," she said quietly, but he wouldn't meet her gaze.

"Yes, Evans?" Ouch. So they were back to last names.

Lily sighed and looked at him pleadingly. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? I didn't know telling you…that," she avoided saying the actual words, "would upset you so much. If I'd known I wouldn't have told you!"

"Oh, and that would have made you any less pregnant?" he snapped, looking at her for the first time that day. She felt something inside her break at seeing him so disheveled and neglected. How had she allowed this to happen?

And, yes. Not telling him she was pregnant would have made her a _hell_ of a lot less pregnant.

"Can't you just accept my apology, James?" Lily asked quietly, wondering how she could have thought simply apologizing would make anything right.

James did not reply right away; they sat there for an immeasurable, silent moment as the few other students piled in the room and the bell rang. Professor Arthio, however, was still grading papers. "We will start our lesson in a moment," she called out for the class to hear. "Your essays are almost finished."

Lily looked at James expectantly. When his eyes met hers, she felt that warm-liquidy feeling in her stomach again. This was getting out of hand. "I know how you can make it up to me," he said quietly, leaning forward on his desk and staring at her. Lily looked away out of necessity, unable to stand the intensity of his gaze.

"How?" she whispered to the floor, glancing fleetingly at him, and he smirked.

"Come to Slughorn's party with me tonight," he muttered, ignoring Professor Arthio as she stood and tapped her wand against the chalkboard behind her desk. A piece of enchanted chalk started writing notes on the board. "It's not like you can go with Fairfax anyway, as he's a _professor_ and all." He grimaced out of pure disgust for the boy.

Lily looked at James, and James looked at Lily, and Lily's head felt like it was spinning. "Alright," she said, without thinking. When he grinned, looking so happy he was going to burst, Lily couldn't help but smile, too. He was infectious.

"Meet me at seven, in the Common Room."

Arithmancy looked a little less boring from then on, even if Lily wasn't ready just yet to face the fact that she'd just agree to go on asomewhat-kind-of-date with the guy whom she was supposed to hate, and thought she was pregnant when she really wasn't. Oh, well. Since when did Lily Evans do what was expected of her?

OOOOOOO

Sirius paced the hallway outside the Ravenclaw common room. When a short, shrimpy little boy came out, probably a first year, Sirius immediately stopped him and asked him to go get Danielle Quinn. The boy quickly nodded and complied, exiting minutes later with Danielle.

Danielle's hair was up in a messy, loopy ponytail and her clothes were casual, just-hanging-around-the-Common-Room-because-I'm-****-at-the-only-guy-I-really-like sweats and a t-shirt. It was just sweats, but to Sirius, she was hot. He licked his lips so he could talk. "Hey," he said, giving her a crooked smile. Nice talk.

Danielle did not seem very impressed with his wonderful conversational pieces. How insulting. "Hello, Sirius." She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?"

Sirius was surprised by her annoyance and obvious anger. "Why are you mad at me, Danielle? I didn't do anything."

Danielle gave Sirius an incredulous glare. "I had to hear from _Dorcas Meadowes_ that you were up in the astronomy tower with Marlene McKinnon the night after _we_ were up there." She looked away and sighed, rolling her eyes. "Is it because we didn't do anything?" she muttered, playing with her hands and not meeting his gaze.

Sirius was confused. "What? _Dorcas_ told you…? For one thing, Dorcas doesn't know a bloody thing about what I do, and for another, I wouldn't touch McKinnon like that with a ten foot pole. Ya know, no offense to her or anything, she's alright as a friend, but she's my mate's would-be girlfriend's best friend. That would be weird." Sirius shuddered. Besides, Marlene was a bit crazy even for him. Then her question finally registered. "Danielle, I wasn't even up there with her. I wouldn't have done something like that to you."

Daniel stood there silently for a minute, then sighed and leaned on the wall behind her. "So you weren't in the astronomy tower with her?" She looked at Sirius hopefully, and he chuckled.

"Nah. Why would I go up there with her when I have you?" Her surprised expression came next, and Sirius blushed slightly, rubbing his neck. "Erm… I was actually wondering if…you would go to Slughorn's party with me tonight?" he rushed out, glancing up at her.

She was grinning widely. Letting a giggle escape, Danielle pushed off of the wall and stood in front of Sirius, wrapping her arms around his neck. He instinctively put his around her waist. Hey, he'd had plenty of practice with this sort of thing.

Their foreheads touched and Danielle looked up at Sirius, smiling. "I'll go to the party with you," she said quietly, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, making him grin as he felt goose pimples form on his arms. Her smile slipped a little and her tone was a little more serious as she said, "But, if I find out you actually were with McKinnon, or any other girl, I'm done, Sirius. I'm not going to be played."

Instead of being discouraged, Sirius just grinned even wider and pulled her in for a – their first – kiss, leaning their foreheads together again. "Babe, I wouldn't dream of it."

OOOOOOO

Marlene went crazy when Lily told her she was going to Slughorn's party with James. "I have to do your makeup! And I am so picking out your clothes!" Marlene seemed much more excited about this party than Lily was. But, Lily allowed her best friend to push her around like a doll, putting curlers in her hair. "I'm not putting too much makeup on you tonight," Marlene said with a wink. "James likes you better _au naturale_, I think."

Her 'beautification' process took at least an hour, so Marlene had only thirty minutes to get herself ready. "Oh, don't worry about it, love," she said, rolling her eyes as she put powder on her face. Lily was protesting the lack of time she had for readiness. "I don't have a date, for one. And anyway, I wanted you to look hot for Potter." Why Marlene wanted Lily to look hot for Potter, Lily didn't know, because her best friend suddenly squealed. "We have to get you into your dress! Potter wants to meet you in the Common Room soon." Marlene moved away from the vanity and to her trunk, shifting through her various cocktail dresses. (Marlene goes to _way_ too many parties.) "This one's perfect!" She cried, holding up a dark green strapless dress. She started digging again, retrieving a pair of black flats and a black cardigan. She shoved the clothes at Lily and ordered her to get dressed, which she readily did.

Lily had to admit, Marlene was a genius. Even with the little bit of makeup she'd applied, she looked very pretty, her pale skin and red hair and the dark green dress nicely contrasting each other. Her eyelashes had been darkened with mascara, but that was pretty much the only makeup on her entire face. Marlene squealed happily as she slipped into her own red-and-gold dress. "You look gorgeous, Lily! He's going to love you!"

_I'm afraid he already does…_ Lily thought to herself, but refrained from saying anything aloud. Marlene pushed her best friend out the door so she could get dressed. "Go meet him!" she called through the thick-set door.

Lily sighed, nervous for reasons unknown to her. Her steps were slow and tentative as she made her way to the Common Room. And then, there she was, and there he was, looking just as nervous as she felt, by the hearth. She bit her lip and gulped quietly, moving toward him. He smiled, looking from her dress to her face to her slightly-curled hair to the lack of makeup on her face. "You look…great," he said quietly, taking in a deep breath.

Lily smiled and nodded, looking at his dress pants and the tucked-in red shirt. "You do, too. Are you ready?" James nodded and chivalrously held his arm out to her. Lily laughed and rolled her eyes, taking his arm as he led her out of the Common Room.

Maybe this night would be fun. As she glanced sideways at James, who glanced at her, she smiled and thought, _Really, really fun._


	17. Chapter 17 crazywriter101

Thansks to **crazywriter101** for the chapter!

OOOOO

"You know, you do look beautiful, Lily," James said, smiling at her warmly. She smiled back.

"Thanks. You look great too." He laughed.

"I tried to smarten up, but my hair just won't lie down for me. Ever heard of hair with feelings?" He grinned cheekily and she swatted at him playfully.

"Actually, I think you look perfect with that monstrous hair of yours," she said affectionately, and before she could stop herself, she reached up to ruffle his untidy black hair, her fingers roaming through it instinctively. Suddenly catching herself, she quickly pulled her hand back, turning red.

"Well, my hair isn't as flattering as yours, my Lilyflower."

"James, you know we aren't in fifth year."

"But you still look as stunning as ever."

"Quite the sweet talker, aren't you, James, Jamie, Jammy, or should I say...Strawberry Jam?"

He made a face. "Strawberry Jam? I've heard of Jamie and Jammy-both of which I hate-but Strawberry Jam? I don't even like strawberry jam!"

"Well, too bad, Strawberry Jam," Lily said teasingly. She loved to poke fun at him, provoke him; it was entertaining to see his warm, golden-amber hazel eyes crinkle at the corners.

Just then, a girl sped by them so quickly, Lily nearly toppled over sideways. She did a little, clutching James' arm instinctively as she did so. He chuckled, amused, and she glared up at him, but couldn't keep the glare up when she saw his eyes crinkle, and she started laughing.

"Little clumsy there, are we, Ms. Evans?"

"Nice to know you like to be blunt, Mr. Potter."

"Hey! The formal address is my comeback!"

"Not anymore."

They grinned at each other, and with that, they trooped off down the next corridor and entered Slughorn's party.

The party was taking place in Slughorn's office, which had been enlarged in order to fit so many people. Sprigs of white-beaded mistletoe hung over entrances, clumps of holly berries hovered just below the ceiling, all in a large green-and-red circle sparkling a little with white sparks.

There were also house-elves, weaving in and out amongst the guests, carrying plates of the treats and drinks on the tables. Clumps of elderly witches stood around, chattering and taking swigs of champagne, and warlocks and wizards smoked their pipes, a haze of the pale blue and gray smoke raising up from the corner most of them stayed in.

Of course, there were also Hogwarts students and some of the teachers. Professor McGonagall, of course, had refused to attend, but Flitwick and Sprout, and Slughorn of course were there, although it seemed Slughorn was the only one truly enjoying himself. The other two appeared to have only come to make sure the newly engaged ones didn't participate in...erm...interesting activities.

The students, mostly seventh years, made up the majority of the guests. Girls stood about, giggling and gossiping away, and boys either stood around in small groups, chatting, or stood awkwardly, watching the girls. And there were girls and boys on the dance floor, dancing and waltzing to the music. Speaking of the music, the Weird Sisters were the ones playing.

"Nice, isn't it?" James said casually.

"Nice? Oh, that's something that underestimates it," Lily said, smiling.

"Lily! James!" a booming voice said behind them.

The two turned expectantly to see Professor Slughorn, beaming at them, wearing a richly embroidered golden waistcoat with matching trousers and looking very red, with a mince pie in one hand and a glass of brandy in the other. He took a sip of brandy and grinned.

"So, enjoying the party, eh?" he asked cheerfully. "Didn't expect you two to come together, that's for sure! Have you tried the mince pie?"

"Oh...no, not yet, at least, Professor," James said quickly.

"I've heard it's good, though," Lily put in helpfully.

Slughorn chuckled. "Good to know. Oh-there they are! The two who are the guests of honor!" The redhead and stag Animagus followed his gaze, which was directed at Alice and Frank, looking a little embarrassed at all the stares and whispers centered at them as they held hands. Alice was wearing a dark blue silk dress with straps, and her hair was neatly tied up into a knot. Frank was in a dress outfit similar to James', only it was with a tuxedo jacket and a jade green dress shirt.

"I propose a toast," Slughorn boomed, lifting his glass of brandy, "to the newly engaged couple, Frank Longbottom and Alice Fairfax, soon to be Alice Longbottom! May they be united in holy matrimony after graduating for many years of happiness and may their children be blessed!"

The two turned red, causing Lily and James to exchange grins as the other guests lifted their glasses of butterbeer and pumpkin juice; and in the case of those who weren't students; wine and brandy, champagne and firewhiskey. "To Alice and Frank," the guests all said. Alice and Frank turned a little redder.

The clinking of glasses sounded throughout the room and the sounds of sipping and gulping and slurping soon joined the clinking. "I'd drink to them too, but unfortunately, I haven't got a drink," Lily whispered to James.

"So would I," James agreed.

"So, care for a dance, Ms. Evans?" James asked, grinning impishly as he watched Lily take another swig of butterbeer.

She returned his grin, only more sincere and less mischievous. "Why, of course." She shed her black cardigan and draped it over the arm of her embellished chair.

With that, he pulled her up onto her feet, placed his hand on her waist, and she put her hand around his shoulder as they danced to a new waltz by the

Weird Sisters. The sight of them dancing was causing quite a stir, as many people were staring at them and whispering. Lily felt a little embarrassed, but that melted away when a slower song started to play, and James pulled her towards him more snugly.

She leaned against his muscled chest, and when she did, she could feel the beat of his heart speeding up drastically. He must be nervous, too, she thought. Their hearts were beating so quickly, they could be in the same rhythm together.

The song slowed even more, to a romantic, dreamy tune, and Lily felt a sense of protectiveness and warmth around her. Smiling, she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, a little sigh of contentment escaping her lips. James' arms tightened a little around her.

"You know, I could get used to this," Lily said, opening her eyes and looking up at James. "Not fighting...just great friends...dancing to a great song."

"Yeah," James said, grinning, but inside, he felt like his heart was withering up and breaking in half slowly, bit by bit.

_Just friends?_

_Why can't you see I still love you...?_

_You fell for Fairfax...but you still don't like "like" me?_

_NO! BAD JAMES! No thinking thoughts about..."love"...I don't love her._

_We're...just friends..._

_Just friends._

_Just friends._

_Just friends._

Those two words echoed through his head, but he ignored them as he closed his eyes and tried to absorb the warmth of this moment, to enjoy it as much as he possibly could before the party ended. He never wanted to let her go, Lily Evans, the girl he had always loved...and still did.

_At least she doesn't hate me...but why doesn't she love me? Is there something wrong with me? Why can't you see I still love you...?_

OOOOO

Two and a half hours later, James and Lily headed back to the common room, grinning, laughing, talking and chattering away. Her slightly curled red hair was starting to come out of its neatly tied bun and his tucked in shirt was starting to come out, but they didn't even notice. Flushed and energized, with sore feet, both were generally cheerful and slightly hyper.

"So...I guess I'll see you then," James said.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked curiously.

"Erm...well...Remus has a furry little problem to deal with in a few minutes," the messy-haired 7th year said a little nervously. He glanced out the window. The moon wasn't out yet, thankfully.

"Oh...alright then," the redhead said, a bit confused. "Well, get back soon, or else Filch will start investigating." She winked and grinned, and he returned it.

"Thanks. So...I guess I'll see you around..." He shifted his weight from foot to foot awkwardly. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. It was only a small one, but it was enough to set his insides on fire and melt him away, and turn his cheeks red.

"Good night, Strawberry Jam," Lily said, grinning when he grimaced at the words "Strawberry Jam."

"Yeah...good night, Lils."

James set off at a brisk trot down the stairs, and Lily stared after him for a few moments, even after he had long disappeared. Her reverie was broken, though, when the Fat Lady said cheerfully, "New boyfriend, Lily?"

"Oh shut up," Lily snapped, but she turned so crimson, it matched her flaming hair. "Engagement party."

The portrait swung forward; though rather reluctantly, and she climbed in through the portrait hole.

She sighed as she scrambled into the common room, but then jumped when she saw Marlene, slumped over in the chair, dozing away and mumbling a little.

"Marl! Wake up! She must have left early..." Lily muttered as she shook her friend as hard as she could.

"No Black, I said I don't-wait...wha...?" Marlene opened her eyes, blinked a few times, and then shook her head a little. "Ugh...my head...how was the party with James, Lil?"

"It was fine," Lily said a little too abruptly. "Anyway, why did you leave early?"

"No...just got tired..." Marlene yawned. "I didn't have a date for the party in the first place anyway, so it doesn't matter. But come on, Lily! What happened?"

"Nothing," Lily said. "Nothing..." She blushed.

"You're a terrible liar, Lils," Marlene sighed. "Seriously, what happened?"

"I'll tell you in the morning, Marly," Lily said. "Anyway...it's not that late, but I think I'll go get some homework done. I've still got my Charms report to finish up. You coming, Marls?"

"Sure."

OOOOO

The next morning, the Hogwarts student population was all abuzz with hot, juicy gossip fresh off the stove. Apparently, word had gotten around that Lily and James had gone together to Slughorn's party, and that Sirius Black was dating Danielle Quinn.

"Did you hear? Evans and Potter went together to Slughorn's party last night..."

"I heard they nabbed a few broom closets on the way and back..."

"Oh my gosh, I HATE Quinn! She stole Siri from me, ME! UGH!"

"They do look cute together, though..."

"Wow, Evans and Potter, Black and Quinn? What next, Lupin and Beeler?"

"Who's Beeler?"

"That 5th year Hufflepuff. Ariana Beeler."

"Oh yeah! I heard about her and Fairfax..."

And so it went.

Jealous girls shot murderous glares at Danielle, who was laughing with Sirius at the breakfast table, Lily and James chatted about the upcoming Transfiguration quiz, Remus was pale and groggy as he read his Herbology textbook and helped himself to bacon at the same time, Peter gorged himself on eggs and toast and blueberry muffins, and Marlene helped herself to sausages and eggs as she talked to Remus and Peter, seeing as Lily and James were stuck in their own world and she didn't want to talk to Sirius and his girlfriend.

"Marly, what are you doing with your space bunny doodle?" Lily whispered to Marlene during the Transfiguration quiz.

"It's not a doodle, Lily! It's a masterpiece!" Marlene whispered back fiercely as she scrawled out a drawing of her space bunny on a spare piece of parchment. "Anyway, McGonagall won't notice I'm doodling during the test; it's not like the O.W.L.s or anything. Besides...I'm modifying my bunny."

Lily gaped as Marlene added a sort of laser gun contraption to her space bunny, and then placed the bunny on a rocket loaded with missiles. Marlene was just about to add a few missiles firing from the bunny's rocket when-

"You better get started on your Transfiguring, you two, the whole class has already started!" McGonagall said sternly, looking over at Lily and Marlene.

"Oh ***," Marlene muttered. "Okay-"

Lily's Transfiguration of her quill into a mouse was flawless, but unfortunately, Marlene's wand was pointing the wrong direction and she, having paid little attention to what the Head of Gryffindor was saying, Marlene had done the wrong incantation and ended up blasting herself backwards off her seat and into the wall with a loud WHAM!

At this, the entire class burst into howls of laughter, especially Sirius; who was literally rolling on the floor, but Lily ran over to her friend, horrified by how hard the impact had been. Papers and books were flying everywhere; as Marlene had crashed into a wall with a loaded shelf on it, and now all sorts of things were tumbling down onto her. Thankfully, Marlene was conscious, but her back was extremely sore.

Marlene didn't even let Lily help her up. Seizing this opportunity to throw something at her enemy/friend, Marlene quickly grabbed the piece of parchment with her laser gun-and-rocket-and-missile-wielding space bunny doodle, crumpled it up into a ball, multiplied it by 500 with her wand, and then started chucking all the paper balls at Sirius, each ball, when hitting him, exploding into nothingness.

"AAAHHH! MCKINNON!" Sirius yelled furiously, his voice loud enough over the laughter of Marlene and the class. Danielle was torn between astonishment, anger, and laughter.

"NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE SPACE BUNNY!" Marlene shouted triumphantly.

In seconds, an all-out war was raging between the two. Marlene continued firing her duplicated paper balls each containing her epic space bunny doodle, while Sirius hurled his multiplied Transfiguration textbooks at her. The class was howling with laughter, McGonagall was temporarily stunned, Lily gaped; torn between laughing and acting angry, Danielle was stunned, Remus's yells at Sirius were drowned out, and James was also trying to yell at Sirius while holding back laughter at the same time.

"ENOUGH!" McGonagall finally yelled. The laughter and pelting of paper balls and multiplied textbooks ceased instantly, and Marlene and Sirius's faces turned dead pale at how furious the Transfiguration professor was. She was seething with almost uncontrollable rage.

"A hundred points from Gryffindor and detention for two months for both of you for such unacceptable behavior during a test!" she practically screamed right into their faces, seeming to tower over them like a very angry Muggle fairytale monster.

Then, in a voice so quiet only the two could hear it, she said, "I have had it with you two. Your detention will be scrubbing toilets in all the bathrooms for two months and you will be BANNED from Hogsmeade until you two develop a more mature relationship."

A/N: Ooh...what's gonna happen next? Hope you like my chapter! :D

OOOOO

Dang what's going on between Marlene and Sirius? Hm…. Next chapter is reserved for **Lillian Allgood**, but tell me if you want to call dibs on a later chapter.


	18. Chapter 18 NoReins94

Been a while, huh? I'd completely forgotten about this poor story (life has gotten a bit hectic), so thanks to **NoReins94** for sending in the chapter!

Also, this should have been out a week ago, but fanfiction was not letting me edit the story! Sorry for the wait.

OOOOO

After Transfiguration the group headed to Potions. Lily and James joked about the night before, walking very close to one another. Marlene still had not received the scoop on how the engagement party had gone, but she had a feeling that plan Procreation for Dummies was about to come to an end.

Danielle and Sirius passed by. Sirius was carrying Danielle's books and smiling one of his goofy grins as she talked about the letter she'd received from her older brother about her two-year-old nephew who had blown up his mother's favorite vase during a temper tantrum. Marlene felt a pang of jealousy. It was strange to think of Sirius as anything other than a friend, practically a brother. She told herself she wasn't jealous of Danielle, but she was jealous of her friends for having such strong relationships. Lily would soon have James. She already had him in her back pocket whether she knew it or not. And Sirius had finally found a girl who kept his eye from wandering. They were lucky. She was single.

Finally, the group passed the dungeons and entered the potions classroom. Ingredients had already been placed at the tables for the students and Slughorn stood at the front of the classroom, waiting for all of the students to scramble in.

The class had passed very uneventfully. Lily and Marlene leaned over their books, checking off ingredients as they went. James and Sirius whispered quietly to one another as they allowed their cauldron to boil. Slughorn had instructed the class to make Amortentia.

Danielle sat at a table with Alice, who was poring over muggle bridal magazines, occasionally asking Danielle for her opinion. Brushing the last of the powdered moonstone from the plate, Danielle set their cauldron to boil.

"Professor Slughorn," Lily said, drawing the eye of most of the students in the classroom. She was the potions whiz, after all. "I believe our potion's ready."

Slughorn walked over to the table, smiling approvingly. "Well done, Miss Evans." He collected some of the potion in a large vial. "Which of you brave young students would like to sample this potion?"

Whispers rang out through the classroom as people discussed whom they would want to use the potion on and wondered who would risk such an ordeal.

"If only I knew Sirius would drink it!" a girl exclaimed from behind Danielle, who whipped around and glared daggers at her.

"Sirius is soooooo cute. He'd be a perfect choice even if he's taken," said a Ravenclaw a table in front of her.

Slughorn glanced around the room. His eyes settled on Marlene who happened to be staring right at Sirius. Marlene didn't even know it, but the dream she had the night before made her realize things about her and Sirius's relationship. She wanted to be more than friends, even if it meant hurting Danielle.

"I volunteer Sirius. After all, so many girls lust after him, this could be a real test for him," she said, standing up from the cauldron.

Though most people thought Lily had done most of the work, they had each shared the task, making the potion equally potent for both her and Marlene. If things went right, Marlene could capture Sirus, even if only for a few hours.

"What do you say, Mr. Black? Are you up for the challenge?" Slughorn asked, turning to the boy. Sirius turned and looked at Danielle. She seemed fine with the idea. And the potion shouldn't last too long. He was curious to see how the potion worked and Marlene wasn't bad looking.

The other students watched as Sirius winked at Marlene and took the vial from professor Slughorn, downing the potion in one gulp. Danielle held her breath, hoping the potion didn't work. Anything was better than her Sirius loving another girl.

"Hey, pretty lady," Sirius said, stepping towards Marlene and planting a long kiss on her lips, only breaking apart when the door slammed shut.

Storming out of the potions classroom, Danielle continued stuffing quills and parchment into her shoulder bag. This was the second class today that Marlene and Sirius had consumed the class's attention. And this was something she was not okay with. Sirius kissing another girl was not something she was okay with.

Normally, Danielle wouldn't be the jealous type. But she'd never been with a boy like Sirius. However, she knew his past and had heard the whispers of jealous girls after Alice and Frank's engagement party, this morning in the Great Hall at breakfast, walking down the halls, and right before, in Potions class. Feeling self-conscious about her relationship with Sirius already, this was the last thing she needed.

Barely making it back to the Ravenclaw common room, she slid down the wall, tears pouring out of her eyes, auburn hair falling in her face.

Lily, James, Marlene, and Sirius sat together at the lunch table. Sirius was very quiet, the affects of the love potion having worn off after an hour or so. His eyes searched the Great Hall for Danielle, but she was nowhere to be found. He was getting worried.

"That was one hell of a kiss, Black," Marlene said, smiling widely and winking at the dark haired boy. "I wouldn't mind a repeat of that potions class or what happened after."

When potions class had ended, Marlene had pulled Sirius back to the Gryffindor common room, skipping her Muggle Studies class. Let's just say they had done more than snog and Sirius hadn't protested one bit.

"Shut up, McKinnon," Sirius exclaimed, pain and anger evident in his voice.

"Why'd you go and pull a stunt like that anyway, Marlene?" Lily asked her best friend. The red-head had been confused by her friend's outburst in class and shocked by the actions that took place afterwards.

"Because I…," Marlene stopped short, thinking about her words carefully. "Because, like every other girl in this school, I'm in love with Sirius Black." There, the truth was out.

James, Sirius, and Lily stared at her, baffled. McKinnon had always seemed to detest guys as a whole, the way they treated women, the way they lacked manners, etc. Now, she sat in front of them, confessing her love for Black. None of them had ever expected that.

"Would you stop staring and please say something?" McKinnon asked after a few minutes had gone by.

"I don't love you, McKinnon" Sirius said, glancing once again towards the Ravenclaw table in hopes that Danielle had decided to make an appearance.

"So, I was just another shag to add to the list?" she asked, hurt evident in her voice. Lily placed a caring hand on her shoulder.

"Professor Slughorn warned about the effects of Amortentia, Marlene," Lily said softly, trying to comfort her friend.

"I know what Slughorn warned about," Marlene replied. "I was just too stupid to accept them."

"I really am sorry," Sirius said, turning back towards the group. "You're a great girl and you have a great personality and a great heart. You're the whole package. But I think my heart belongs to someone else."

"Danielle?" James asked, a knowing look on his face. He'd been quiet throughout the conversation, feeling guilty for letting his best mate make a git of himself.

"I've never known anyone like her," Sirius answered, looking directly at Marlene.

"I guess I can respect that," she said, blinking her eyes a few times and taking a sip from the water goblet in front of her. "But if that's the way you truly feel, you can't let her go."

"I don't plan on it." Sirius stood up from the Gryffindor table and left the Great Hall. There was no way he was going to let Danielle go.

Danielle was sitting on the love seat in the Ravenclaw common room, surrounded by her closest girlfriends when Sirius finally found her. The fire was blazing and other than the girls and a few students who were spending their lunch studying, the lounge was empty.

"There's another man out there for you," Molly Dresden said, squeezing Danielle's hand and wiping a tear away from her face.

"Sirius is a big git anyway," Lizzy Dell said, throwing her curly blonde locks over her shoulder.

Sirius coughed, drawing the girls' attention. Danielle stood abruptly, turning to walk up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Her friends sent thousands of icy daggers his direction with one look.

"Danielle, wait!" Sirius said, still standing in the middle of the common room.

Danielle turned, half way up the stairs. Her blue eyes met his grey ones. "What the bloody hell do you want?" she exclaimed, anger and frustration evident in her voice.

"Can we talk?" he asked. He looked like a mouse that has been cornered by a barn cat with no way out.

"Can we talk? What do you want to talk about? How you've been flirting with Marlene McKinnon all day! How you drank a love potion that Marlene McKinnon made? Or how about how you SNOGGED Marlene McKinnon right in front of me? The girl who was supposed to be your girlfriend." Danielle's words echoed through the room, piercing Sirius's heart.

"I'm sorry," he replied meekly.

Those two words caused Danielle to rush down the stairs and slap Sirius Black across the face. A red mark graced his cheek where her hand had made contact with it.

"You GIT! You bastard!" she yelled, tears starting to stream down her face. She pounded her fists against his chest and Sirius felt even guiltier with every blow. "You were supposed to love me! You were the only boy I ever loved!"

Sirius grabbed Danielle's wrists in one hand, stopping her from bruising his body and his ego any more than she already had. With the other, he tilted her face up to look at him. Even with tears of anger flowing down her face she was beautiful.

"I'm sorry," he said, staring into her soul. "I love you."

"How can you love me?" she asked, trying to pull away.

"Because you're beautiful. You're feisty. You're passionate. You're an individual. You excel in all of your classes. Because you've seen past my flaws, my protective mechanisms, through to the real me," he said, tenderly caressing her face. "I love you, Danielle. Please forgive me."

Before she could answer, Sirius caught her lips in the most passionate, romantic kiss the two of them had shared. Danielle's heart ached. She wanted so much to be with Sirius, but after today, she wasn't sure she could. There wasn't anyone else like him in the world, but no one had ever caused her this much pain.

When they finally broke apart, Sirius got his answer. "I still love you, but I don't know if I can forgive you. Not now any way. Maybe not even for a while. But I still love you."

OOOOO

So….yeah. If you would like to add a chapter to the story, tell me.


	19. Chapter 19 trini bear

Thanks to trini bear for the chapter!

OOOOO

After Sirius left Danielle he crossed the castle, on his way to the Gryffindor common room he spotted a hooded figure with a small body, sitting against the wall, head in hands and back shaking.

Normally, Sirius wasn't one to stop by and see what was wrong with this person, but these sounded like heartbreaking sobs, and Sirius had finally experienced something to help him empathize with heartbreak.

He walked cautiously down the hall, slowly, in case the girl heard him and was embarrassed, but somehow he managed to make it over before the girl noticed him.

He slid down beside the person, "Hey, what's wrong?"

The sobs slowed down, and came to a hiccuping stop when the person answered, "I'm not sure. I feel like my chest is being attacked by a rabid hippogryph and I don't know why." Her voice was hoarse, so he still couldn't tell who it was.

Sirius, being the newly sensitive man he was, somehow knew she didn't want him to know who she was, saving face, he guessed.

"Sounds like love."

The small girl giggled, "Yeah, right. I don't love him, I'm barely friends with him. But I feel so bad..."

She burst into fresh sobs, and lowered her head even more. Sirius just sat there with her, rubbing her back and trying to comfort her, when she slowed down again he asked, "What could you have done that was so bad?"

She hiccuped, "He's deluded himself into thinking he likes me, when I'm pretty sure he only likes me because he can't have me. And now I've done something to get him off my back but I think I might've gone to far..."

Sirius thought, "Well I don't know about the second part, but the first part sounds like what's going on with my best mate, he's loved this girl for the longest time, but she keeps saying no every time he asks her out, she thinks he doesn't actually like her, and most of the time she just gets really mad at him though."

The small girl rubbed her eyes with her sleeve and moved back to having her arms wrapped around her knees, "Sounds like what's happened to me. But I think I might've gone to far..."

"If this guy loves you as much as my mate loves the other girl, it doesn't matter. He'd go to the end of the universe and back to make you happy. Just try saying yes though, once. Maybe he'll surprise you."

Silently Sirius got up and walked away, smiling as he rounded the corner, maybe he'd done something good today after all.

The small hooded figure finally got the nerve to look over at the man who helped her, only to find him gone. Lily's eyes widened, maybe she'd never know who helped her.

She sighed and stood up, before heading down to where she knew James was. She had to apologize and tell him she wasn't pregnant. Earlier, she'd made maybe the biggest mistake.

After Sirius had left the Great Hall earlier that evening, James had done something crafty.

"Oh no!"

Lily and Marlene looked at him like he was crazy, "What?" asked Lily.

"I have a potions essay due tomorrow and I haven't even started yet!"

Lily rolled her eyes, then turned to Marlene again, trying to comfort her best friend. Meanwhile, James was repeatedly hitting his head against the table.

Eventually Marlene sighed, "Go help him Lily, you know he won't leave until you agree to."

Lily huffed, "I know." She then turned to James, "Alright Potter, let's go to the library."

James shot up, a full bright smile on his face, "Really?"

She rolled her eyes, "I guess. Come on." With that she beckoned him with a wave of her hand and walked out of the Great Hall, James hot on her heels.

Once the got into the library, Lily immediately headed to the potions section, James followed looking totally clueless. One she got there the red head started pulling various books off the shelves, she then walked over to a table and placed the books down.

She turned to look at James, "This is in no way, considered a date. Got it Potter?"

He smirked, remembering the time in third year when he'd gotten her to help him with his Charms and told everyone he had a date with her. It ended with James failing that Charms test.

"Whatever you say Lily flower."

She scowled at him, "Don't start with me Strawberry Jam."

"I think I might Lils."

"Jammy don't go there."

"I already did ."

"Potter I swear if you make me get into one of these..."

"Whatever do you mean Pumpkin?" By now they were in a full blown nick-name contest.

"Jamie you know you're not going to win this, don't you?" She smirked, even Lily had to admit this was fun.

"And how do you figure that Carrot Top?"

"Easily Four Eyes, I'm smarter then you."

"Oh really Muffin?"

"Yes really, Prongs." Lily unfortunately, was running out of names. James could go all day with girlfriend pet names and red head nick names, but Lily generally only thought of him as 'Potter' and nothing else. Already she was resorting to using names she'd heard Sirius call him.

"Now I might have to argue with that Ginger, seeing as last Defense Against the Dark Arts test I got perfect and you got... Was it less than perfect? I do believe so."

"Shut it Wilberforce."

"Oh so now you have to search your imagination for names Sirius already made my Lovely Flower?"

"Only because I'm saving the really good ones for later, Bathesba."

"Still using Sirius' names Darling..."

"Still don't care Elvendork..."

"Oh now that's just mean Munchkin."

"What, pray tell, is mean Git?"

"Well first not caring my Little Dew Drop, but now calling me a git? I resent that!"

"And I resent this game you... you... Idiot!"

James' eyes glinted with mischief, he was about to win and he knew it, better to use the ones he'd been saving now, "What game my pregnant lady?"

Lily's eyes flared, "ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT YOU INSUFFERABLE MORON?"

James laughed, this was going to turn into an insult contest quickly, "Not at all my Peach, I'm just pointing out that you are pregnant?"

Lily had had enough, she'd made up the pregnancy thing so James would back off! Not come closer!

"Yes, with a handsome man's child, who's promised to marry me after I finish here." Lily sneered.

James' face paled, "Wh- what?"

Lily smirked, "Seth found out I was pregnant and said he'd marry me as soon as school is over. Now I don't have to worry about a thing." Lily's chest constricted and suddenly it felt harder to breathe.

James' normally laughter filled eyes turned distressed and bright, Lily was afraid he might cry.

In James' head he was panicking, maybe Peter and Snivellus were wrong and Seth actually did... love Lily, she was having his baby after all...

Dear Merlin he'd just lost her forever.

James tried to swallow the lump in his throat, "I have to go." He managed to croak out before running off.

Lily in turn watched James' retreating back, so close to tears herself.

That was when she'd ran out of the Library and down the hall where Sirius later found her.

Maybe he actually did like her. Maybe she wasn't just a girl he was attracted to because she'd said 'no'.

Maybe she actually liked him back.

She stopped dead. No Lily! You don't like that arrogant git! Maybe now he'll leave you alone...

She sighed and went to sit on the stairs, James was probably either up on the Astronomy Tower or flying around the Quidditch Pitch.

Now. She had two options. She could go find him, tell him the entire pregnancy was a lie to get him to leave her alone.

Or she could walk right back up to the common room and have a nice game of chess with Marlene before bed.

Or she could sit here on the steps contemplating things...

Eventually she knew what she had to do. Her conscious was eating her alive. Maybe if she calmly explained to James that she wasn't actually pregnant, he'd be okay again.

So with that thought, Lily set out down the stairs to the Quidditch Pitch, where she could see James flying about from various windows on the stairs.

Eventually she made it down to the pitch, just in time to see the most horrifying thing in the world.

There was James, falling towards the ground from his broom.

Lily whipped out her wand and screamed, "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!"

James' body slowed from the fall before hovering in the air. His eyes were shut tight and Lily let him down softly on the ground.

"James! James! Are you okay?"

He groaned, "Oh crap, mum's going to kill me."

"What?"

He sat up rubbing his head, "Mum's going to kill me for dying. I'm dead aren't I? Of course I am, you're here. Unless I'm in hell, in which case you're just here to torture me about being pregnant and being with another guy aren't you? Dear Merlin an eternity having to watch you be with someone else... Or this is heaven and you love me. Which is it?" The last sentence was demanded.

Lily gulped, "Umm neither, you fell off your broom and I saved you."

He rubbed his eyes and looked around, "I knew death looked too much like the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch."

Lily had no idea why, but from all the stress on her lately that seemed like the funniest thing, she fell over laughing.

James was already sitting up beside where she was kneeling, when she fell over laughing. He twisted to look at her laughing, "What are you laughing at?"

She wiped tears away from her eyes, "I'm not sure. I'm feeling a lot of emotions right now and laughing seemed better then bursting into tears."

"Why would you cry?"

Lily had a dilemma. She could tell him the truth if she wanted. The truth that being near him was making her heart pound, and that she wasn't really pregnant.

Or she could tell him she'd caught Seth cheating and- as she was running from the scene- fell down the stairs, lost her baby, and during her near death realized she couldn't live without him.

Or she could just say watching him fall from his broom almost gave her a heart attack and she was glad he was alive.

She really only had one choice right now.

"I don't know, I was super scared there for a minute that you would die, and then you were alive, and then you said the death thing and it's just... A lot to handle."

He smirked, "Didn't know you cared so much." Then realizing what he said he looked away, growing sad again.

"Look," he said, standing up and looking away from her, his voice thick like he was holding back tears himself, "I kind of came out here to work out some stuff and work off some steam, so if you would leave that would be great."

Lily's eyes widened in realization, "R- right. Umm, alright. See you later?"

"Yeah." He helped her stand up and she turned and started walking away.

After about ten steps he called out, "Lily!"

She whipped around, "Yeah?"

His head was down, "Thanks."

She nodded and turned away, walking again.

After watching her retreating back James went over to his broom again and kicked off from the ground. Once in the air he started whispering, "Thanks for always being there, and thanks for caring even a little bit."


	20. Chapter 20 ToothpasteDrool

Hey guys! Looks like there's a new chapter, thanks to **ToothpasteDrool**! (Whose username I very much agree with—I'd never be able to be a toothpaste/brush model.)

* * *

It wasn't until an hour after Lily left that James went back to his dormitory.

He flung open the door and dove into his bed, trying to conceal a rather stupid-looking grin. On the next bed, Remus sat up and raised an eyebrow at him. "What's the matter with you, mate?"

James shrugged nonchalantly, still trying to fight off that idiotic grin. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"

Remus closed his book. "Then I'm assuming you're over Lily?"

"What?" James asked, flipping open a Quidditch magazine to a random page. "Why would I do that?"

"Because she's pregnant. Remember?" Remus sincerely hoped he wouldn't have toexplain the whole fiasco to James again.

James accidentally crumpled the page he was on. "Oh. Right."

OOOOO

It is key, thought James as he walked down the corridor. To keep my cool even when I see Lily and Fairfax. Especially when I see Lily and Fairfax. In fact, he turned the corner. Ill be the better man. If Lily' s happy, then I'm happy. It's best to end things on good terms. I'll even congratulate her, to show her I'm over her. Yeah, that's what I'll…

He suddenly bumped into someone. His hands instantly went for his hair. "Hey, Lily."

Lily nodded. "James."

"So, uhh.." Be cool. "I just wanted to say congratulations. You know, with Fairfax and everything." He gave a weak smile and walked away in a dignified fashion. As soon as he turned the corner, he bolted to the common room, leaving a rather bewildered Lily behind.

OOOOO

Lily was brooding in her own dormitory. He's not over me, is he? Wait, why should it even matter?

"I just wanted to say congratulations… you know, with Fairfax and everything."

She groaned. Fuck.

The door suddenly burst open. Marlene waltzed in.

"Did you hear? Sirius and that Quinn girl broke up!" She spat out Danielle's name like it was Skele-Gro potion.

Lily eyed her wearily. "What are you going to do about it?"

Her best friend sat gracefully on the edge of Lily's bed. "Try to get together with Sirius, of course!"

Lily sighed. "Look, Marls, I don't think that's a good idea." You seem to forget Sirius already rejected you."

Marlene didn't seem to hear her as she rambled on. "Or maybe, I could go out with other boys.."

"Yes! Go out with with other boys!"

"…to make Sirius jealous of course."

Lily felt like screaming. "No! No no no. Will you just leave the two of them alone?"

Marlene stiffened. "Why?"

Lily backed off. "Well, I mean, he kind of already rejected you…"

Marlene's eyes flashed and Lily hurried on. "And they seemed really happy together, so I don't think you should…"

Marlene interrupted, her tone a bit more harsh than she intended. "I should what?"

Lily instinctively reached for her wand. "Well, I just think you should let them sort it out themselves. What if they really were in love?"

Marlene stood up calmly and walked out of the dormitory, slamming the door behind her as she went. She leaned against the wall. I thought you were on my side.

On the other side of the wall, Lily sighed. How on earth did I manage to endup in so much drama?

OOOOO

It was like he was in a depression all week. Sort of.

It's not like Sirius actually showed it on the outside anyway. In fact, it seemed like the Marauders were quite normal. Pranks, mouthing off, detentions.

In fact, Sirius, sick of James's moping around, had even made a jab at Evans a  
couple of days ago.

Smirking with a dangerous glint in his eyes, he had called out, "Oi, Evans! Are we invited to your wedding?"

Evans had flinched but replied smoothly. "Only if you want me to organize your funeral."

And she had walked on.

But as he walked to the boy's loo by himself, he found his mind wandering to the forbidden topic: Danielle. Quinn, he quickly corrected himself.

What the hell was he going to do with her?

He could always wait…he supposed. But what if she never came back? What if he wasted his entire life waiting for somebody who might've never even cared for him?

He supposed he could break off dating for now-it's not like he particularly wanted to date anyone else at the moment anyway. He didn't want to hurt again anyway.

Sirius glanced in the mirror and snorted. Maybe that's it. No trust, no hurt.I should probably just not trust anyone either.

But his mind immediately flickered to James. Of course he trusted James. And even though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, he loved him, too. As a brother, of course.

That's the key, he decided. Love, but never fall in love…again.

Because according to the Black code, falling was never a good thing.

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Anyone interested in writing a chapter should contact me!


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